Reporters Without Borders have issued a series of key recommendations for the media covering the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing ©Beijing 2022

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), set up to protect freedom of speech and information, has warned journalists and media covering the 2022 Winter Olympic Games to protect themselves against surveillance by the Chinese Government.

Key recommendations include avoiding downloading applications that could allow the Chinese authorities to monitor them.

RSF has also called upon media outlets, publishers and social networks to denounce any editorial interference or pressure from the Government in China.

"The Olympic Games provide President Xi Jinping with a dream opportunity to restore his image and try to make people forget his catastrophic human rights records, including press freedom and the right to information," RSF East Asia Bureau head Cédric Alviani said.

"It is legitimate for the media to cover this major international event, but they must be wary of the regime's manipulation attempts and protect their journalists from surveillance and possible pressure."

China ranks 177th out of 180 in the 2021 RSF World Press Freedom Index, just two places above North Korea.

According to RSF, there are at least 127 journalists currently detained in China.

Reporters Without Borders have issued advice to journalists covering Beijing 2022 on how they refer to events like the Tiananmen Massacre ©Getty Images
Reporters Without Borders have issued advice to journalists covering Beijing 2022 on how they refer to events like the Tiananmen Massacre ©Getty Images

Other RSF recommendations include not storing, even temporarily, passwords or information that could endanger journalists or their sources.

It also recommends journalists download a Virtual Private Network - VPN - before leaving for China and have urged journalists covering Beijing 2022 to report "pressure, threats, harassment, suspected self-censorship or suspected corruption" to RSF.

Last month, the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China criticised a lack of transparency from the Organising Committee and the International Olympic Committee on sports reporting in the country.

RSF, an international non-profit and Non-Governmental Organisation founded in 1985, have issued guidelines about reporting events in China.

"When referring to China, take care to avoid using expressions designed to conceal certain realities," RSF warn.

"For example, refer to the repression in Xinjiang rather than the 'fight against terrorism', or to the Tiananmen massacre rather than the Tiananmen 'events'.

"Do not cooperate with media outlets that relay Chinese Communist Party propaganda and, if you are invited to China as a journalist, think about what may be asked of you in return."