Chinese browsers block protest against China’s 996 overtime work culture

Tencent, Xiaomi and others are censoring the GitHub page over “illegal information”

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The 996.icu GitHub repository opened on QQ Browser’s iOS version (left) and Xiaomi’s native browser (right). (Picture: QQ Browser and Xiaomi)

Xinmei Shen

Published: 10:14pm, 3 Apr 2019Updated: 9:00am, 20 Sep 2019

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

Chinese developers are using GitHub to protest China’s punishing “996” overtime work culture -- 9am to 9pm, 6 days a week. But back home, Chinese companies are trying to kill the discussion.

A number of Chinese browsers, including Tencent’s QQ Browser, Qihoo’s 360 Browser and the native browser on Xiaomi smartphones, have restricted user access to the 996.icu repository on GitHub.

The project was started by an anonymous Chinese developer who says workers are risking their health when they follow the “996” schedule. The repository became the subject of wide discussion across Chinese social media by those sharing similar experiences, quickly turning the repository into the top trending project on GitHub.

Now with some of China’s biggest tech firms censoring the project, netizens have noted the ironic turn of events. “So these 996 companies’ 996 developers had to work 996 to block a website about 996,” one user said on Weibo in a comment liked nearly 800 times.

“Homegrown browsers have built higher walls than the country’s Great Firewall, they’re effectively all accomplices,” another user said.