China’s policy of cyber-sovereignty has meant tighter controls for users of its social media platforms. Beyond its determination to reduce the influence of Western societies by blocking access to foreign websites, such as Facebook, Google and Twitter among others, it has degraded the ability of Chinese citizens to organise and popularise environmental protests. The large majority of environmental protests go unreported in the mainstream media and are heavily or completely censored on social media. Occasionally protests are able to force actionable outcomes where the effects can be localised and blame placed upon local officials, but success is hard to predict. As the legal, regulatory and policy measures regarding social media become increasingly restrictive, the prospects of successful social media campaigns around environmental issues diminish.