Bilibili

Bilibili Censorship: Why China's Video Platform Faces Blocks Worldwide

What Bilibili Is

Bilibili is a Chinese video-sharing platform launched in 2010, originally as a subculture community site focused on anime, manga, and gaming content. It is owned by Bilibili Inc., a publicly traded company headquartered in Shanghai. The platform has grown to host general video content—news, education, entertainment, and livestreams—with over 300 million monthly active users as of 2024, making it China's second-largest video platform after Douyin (TikTok's Chinese equivalent). The service operates primarily in Simplified Chinese.

Why Bilibili Is Censored

Bilibili faces blocking or restriction in at least two distinct geopolitical contexts, each driven by different regulatory pressures.

In India, Bilibili has been intermittently restricted or blocked since 2020, primarily under pressure from India's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and telecom regulators. The blocking coincides with India's broader policy of restricting Chinese digital services following border tensions with China. While no single statute explicitly names Bilibili, India's Information Technology Rules, 2021, which grant the government sweeping content-removal and platform-blocking powers, have been cited as the legal basis. The blocking appears content-agnostic rather than targeting specific videos; instead, it reflects state-level geopolitical strategy to limit Chinese corporate influence in digital infrastructure.

In North Korea, Bilibili is inaccessible as part of the regime's comprehensive internet censorship architecture. North Korea permits only state-approved content and maintains near-total blockade of foreign platforms. Bilibili, like nearly all non-state video services, is blocked at the border gateway under the country's Internet access protocols. No specific law names Bilibili; the blockade is structural, affecting all unapproved foreign services.

Technical Blocking Methods

The blocking mechanisms differ by country and reflect their censorship infrastructure maturity.

In India, blocking is typically achieved through IP-level censorship coordinated by the Department of Telecom. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) receive Ministry orders to block specific IP ranges associated with Bilibili's CDN and primary servers. This is crude but effective: users attempting to access Bilibili.com receive connection timeouts or ISP-level block pages. Some ISPs also implement DNS-level blocking, redirecting requests to Bilibili's domain to a null route. Because India's censorship relies on centralized coordination rather than sophisticated deep packet inspection, these methods are relatively straightforward to identify and circumvent.

In North Korea, blocking is enforced through gateway-level filtering at the country's single international internet exchange point. The regime combines IP blacklisting, DNS filtering, and keyword blocking on the rare occasions when traffic is allowed. The technical implementation is less sophisticated than China's "Great Firewall" but far more absolute, since virtually no international traffic bypasses state control.

User Workarounds

Users in blocked regions employ standard circumvention tactics. The most common approach is routing traffic through encrypted tunnel protocols that mask destination and content from ISPs and government monitoring. DNS resolution through non-blocked nameservers can bypass DNS-level blocks in India. Some users employ proxy services or mirror sites, though these are often patchy and unreliable. In North Korea, workarounds are nearly impossible for ordinary users; access requires smuggled mobile devices or rare access through tourism-focused networks.

Alternatives

YouTube remains the largest global alternative but is also blocked in India and entirely inaccessible in North Korea. Vimeo offers less Chinese-language content but is accessible in both regions. Rumble, a decentralized video platform, operates in both countries but has negligible Chinese-language community. For users seeking anime and gaming content specifically, MyAnimeList and Crunchyroll offer curated libraries but lack user-generated content breadth.

Outlook

Restrictions appear to be tightening rather than easing. India's blocking remains in place as of 2024 with no indication of reversal, aligned with Delhi's broader "digital sovereignty" stance. North Korea's isolation is structurally entrenched. Absent major geopolitical shifts, Bilibili's accessibility in these regions will remain severely constrained.