The 404’d Voices of the Past Year

On 4 April last year, Foodthink published a “Collection of Deleted Articles”. Since then, whenever a piece was censored, my colleagues would share a bitter internal joke: “Next year’s 404 collection already has another entry.”

But the 404s of these two years have not been the same. In 2024, most of the articles deleted from Foodthink were not trending topics or “sensitive issues” in the traditional sense. For example, some were reviews of reports, research, and creative works produced by domestic media and academia regarding food delivery and e-commerce platforms in 2024, or introductions to the social security measures introduced in Singapore for platform workers. Consequently, every time an article vanished, the editorial team was bewildered, unable to fathom the logic or motivation behind the deletions.

However, among the deleted pieces of the past year, two were focused on current or long-term social hotspots, which had also been covered by institutional and independent media. Yet, at a certain point, everyone fell silent.

To ensure food security, we have a permanent “red line” for the protection of basic farmland; to protect the environment, we have an ecological protection “red line”. But in the arena of public opinion, we cannot see where this line is drawn. All we see is a message stating, “This content is unavailable due to a violation of regulations.” The rest can only be guessed at through every article that has been 404ed.

Below are the articles 404ed in 2025. You may read the first part of their lives using the provided prompts.

404 not found NO.1

This was actually a response to a book published a few years ago discussing food delivery work, titled Transit Labour. As a PhD in nutrition focusing on how socio-economic relations impact population health, the author discussed from a nutritional perspective whether food delivery, as a job, truly makes riders “short-lived”. She emphasised that excessive labour does not only apply to delivery riders; many people in modern society also experience irregular meals, high-intensity work, and income instability—this is the same kind of “instrumental rather than value-driven” labour found in delivery work. The author hoped that by examining the plight of riders, we might reflect on why food security and economic development have not made eating properly any easier.

Message “丑团” to the “Foodthink” official account to read the full text 🙏

404 not found NO.2

During the 2025 autumn harvest in North China, months of continuous rain prevented maize from being harvested, leading to widespread mould. “Continuous Rain in North China” trended on social media, with various media platforms reporting the situation in succession. Foodthink visited six agricultural counties in Henan and Hebei, discovering that at every stage from cultivation to sale, farmers, buyers, and local governments had tried every possible way to cope. Yet, regardless of the scale of the farm or the strength of their equipment, almost all maize growers were left to absorb the losses caused by reduced yields, falling prices, and mould.

The article was published on 22 October 2025 and deleted on 24 October. As far as we know, pieces on other platforms were also removed. Perhaps everyone is free to discuss a topic when it first becomes a hotspot, but at a certain point, they are all silenced. Whether it is the content creators or readers seeking the truth, we live in an era of racing against the clock.

Send the message “Umbrella” to the Foodthink Official Account to read the full text ထ

404 not found NO.3

Similar to the “continuous rain in North China”, “heating issues in rural Hebei” was another rural hotspot this past winter.

On 5 January, the *Farmers’ Daily* Official Account published “Heating Issues in Rural Hebei Can No Longer Be Delayed”, mentioning that on *Xiao Han* (Slight Cold), one of the coldest days of the year, people in some rural areas of Hebei would rather freeze than dare to turn on the heating.

Foodthink soon published a commentary. The author, a Hebei native and former environmental journalist, had witnessed the series of powerful measures implemented by the government to combat smog in Beijing. This included the 2013 “Ten Air” plan to tackle air pollution, which led to the large-scale promotion of coal-to-gas and coal-to-electricity transitions in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. That year, heating difficulties emerged in rural Hebei, attributed at the time to an insufficient supply of natural gas.

Twelve years later, the supply issue has been resolved, but prices have risen. Farmers with limited incomes, especially the elderly left behind in villages, still cannot afford to heat their homes.

While urban heating remains stable, some rural areas must incur higher costs just to meet the basic conditions for survival. The author asks: why are farmers always the victims of “one-size-fits-all” policies? They argue that the green transition cannot come at the cost of sacrificing vulnerable groups like farmers; only a fair and just transition can be sustainable.

The article was published on 9 January this year and deleted on 18 January—surviving eight days longer than the *Farmers’ Daily* piece, “Heating Issues in Rural Hebei Can No Longer Be Delayed”. The farmers’ bodies are cold; our hearts are colder.

Send the message “One-size-fits-all” to the Foodthink Official Account to read the full text ထ

404 not found NO.4

Based on research conducted across several provinces last year, Foodthink published an original article at the start of ’26 titled “Who Lowered the ‘Standards’ of High-Standard Farmland?”. This attracted comments from practitioners and researchers in the agricultural and engineering fields nationwide, who shared their observations on the construction and use of high-standard agriculture in their local areas, confirming that the issue of subpar “standards” for high-standard farmland exists in villages across Southwest, Northwest, and Central China.

Foodthink compiled the information provided by readers and published “The Nation Discusses High-Standard Farmland” on 21 January.

What kind of farmland renovation can truly guarantee food security? Foodthink believes that before carrying out construction and renovation in rural areas, we should first humbly listen to the voices of farmers on the front line and dismantle the myths surrounding large-scale agriculture. The article was deleted ten days after publication. It was later reposted; click here to read the full text.

Beyond the articles mentioned above being handled by platforms, we have received more than one phone call over the past year demanding the deletion or modification of content. In this process, we discovered that a single event of extreme weather, a moment of field work, or even a seemingly ordinary piece—simply stating facts that may already be widely known—can make those who created the problems, or those who should have solved them, feel uneasy. Everyone seems to be “guarding” their own little plot of land, but the space for public discussion is gradually shrinking amidst this tension.

For Foodthink, an article is not just about being “published”; more importantly, it serves as an entry point where stakeholders with different positions can exchange information and engage in deeper discussion. Often, the most valuable part is the interaction in the comments section, but these voices are becoming fewer as they are repeatedly “404”.

Over the past year, we have found that comments on Official Account articles are being masked more and more quickly. Sometimes readers leave thoughtful reflections that are deleted so rapidly that we don’t even have time to see what they wrote; we only see the backend notification: “Comment is no longer visible due to suspected violations.”

In other words, readers appear to be able to comment, but not all comments can be seen—many voices exist only on the commenter’s own interface.

Over time, some stop leaving comments and stop attempting to express themselves. Gradually, voices diminish, and silence becomes more common.

Perhaps all we can do is try our best to say what can still be said and hold onto the space that has not yet vanished. As for the voices that were not seen, they should not simply be treated as non-existent. In any case, we do not wish to mourn the passing of the “public space” on some future Qingming Festival.

Compiled by: Carrie

Edited by: Tianle