The Apple Daily reported on August 20, 2017, that in the run up to the 19th Party Congress, the authorities suspended incoming and outgoing WhatsApp messages on August 19 evening and August 20. The newspaper said this could be a prelude to blocking WhatsApp entirely. 

The Cambridge University Press (CUP) that publishes the China Quarterly, has blocked 300 journal articles related to sensitive issues from its website in China at the request of China's General Administration of Press and Publications. A petition campaign has been launched by academics and others abroad protesting the CUP's decision and accusing it of self-censorship.