The Chinese Communist Party’s Ministry of State Security has issued a notice stating that foreign spy intelligence agencies are using pop-up ads such as “watch ads to get benefits” to conduct intelligence gathering, target selection, and ideological infiltration. Journalists have found that this year, the Chinese Communist Party has released more than twenty articles focusing on “anti-espionage and national security” issues. Industry experts say that the CCP’s actions aim to instill anti-foreign sentiment among the public.
According to a report by China’s state media CCTV News on June 21, the Chinese Communist Party’s National Security Department released an article warning of hidden security risks in online pop-up ads. The article stated that national security agencies have discovered that foreign spy intelligence agencies are using pop-up ads to conduct related activities, posing a threat to China’s national security. Currently, national security agencies have instructed operators of relevant online platforms to stop providing advertising push services for unknown foreign links.
Sichuan self-media person Zhao Xin (pseudonym) told reporters that the advertising tracking, interest tags, location data, and user profiles mentioned by the National Security Department are not rare technologies but a common practice in the internet advertising industry. He said, “Pop-up ads have always existed, and common user problems include accidental clicks leading to redirects, forced downloads, and difficulty closing. These issues are usually related to the platforms, advertising companies, and app developers. Now associating them with foreign spies, I really don’t understand why everything is being tied to national security.”
The article by the Chinese Communist Party’s National Security Department categorizes the risks of pop-up ads into two types. One type is called “personalized ad push,” where users click on pop-ups, and the app sends back personal information, interest characteristics, etc., to the advertising company to calculate and push targeted ads. The article claims that foreign spy intelligence agencies collaborate with certain advertisers to integrate ad feedback data, social media information, and high-precision positioning to create targeted profiles.
Another type is referred to as “network content distribution.” The article mentions that online commercial ads rely on content distribution networks for dissemination, through which foreign spy intelligence agencies embed “anti-China website links” in pop-up ads, bypassing the Chinese internet regulatory system by routing through nearby regional nodes and covertly placing them within the domestic network environment.
Chinese internet industry expert Xia Tian stated that in recent years, the number of so-called anti-espionage articles published by the CCP’s National Security Department far exceeded those of the Propaganda Department. He said, “The newly revised ‘Anti-Espionage Law’ will reach its three-year anniversary on July 1 this year. Over these years, national security has endlessly promoted anti-espionage and tells you spy-catching stories, essentially indoctrinating people with anti-Japanese and anti-American sentiments. As soon as these articles are published by the national security, they are widely shared. Some even disable the comment section to prevent discussions.”
The article from the National Security Department also mentions that if pop-up ads contain content that “distorts facts, attacks or defames the Party and government,” users can report it to the national security agency hotline 12339, online platforms, or the National Security Department’s WeChat public account.
Chinese legal scholars have criticized the National Security Department’s article for listing “attacks or defamations against the Party and government” as reportable content, calling it absurd. They said, “Certainly, pop-up ads need regulation, but the problem arises if governance ends up becoming political reporting. Who gets to define what constitutes defamation? We have seen cases where netizens resembling certain leaders are not allowed as avatars; some critical comments are also labeled as attacking the government. This is purely intimidating netizens.”
In recent years, the Chinese Communist Party has successively issued the “Regulations on the Management of Internet Pop-Up Information Push Services” and the “Internet Advertising Management Measures,” requiring pop-up ads to clearly mark “advertisement” and provide a visible closure option.
Based on publicly available information, it was found that the Chinese Communist Party’s National Security Department has intensively published articles on “anti-espionage and national security” issues this year, with reports being repeatedly reposted by mainland Chinese media such as CCTV News, Xinhua News Agency, and Science and Technology Daily. As of June 21, there have been at least twenty articles related to reporting and alerts, ranging from public officials, positions involving classified information, military ports and airports, air show photos, to browser plugins, phishing emails, video conferences, app permissions, used hard drives, home routers, and pop-up ads in everyday scenarios. Among these, network and digital security-related topics are the most concentrated, with at least nine instances.