China on Monday said it is censoring 'negative' content online, adding to decades of surveillance and blocking of criticism against the Communist Party.
Cyberspace administration of China announced a two-month campaign targeting content on social media, short-video apps, and live-streaming platforms, which are “maliciously misinterpret social phenomena, selectively exaggerates negative cases, and use them as an opportunity to promote nihilistic or otherwise negative worldviews.”
State-run media praised the campaign as a necessary step to restore order online, warning that negative content can cause panic and damage public trust.
“The harm of such maliciously divisive content is significant. It can trigger collective misunderstandings and social panic, marginalise reason and facts, and even spark offline conflicts causing long-term damage to public order and social trust,” it wrote.
What's behind move
The campaign comes at a time when China’s economic slowdown has hit young people the hardest. Growth in factory output and retail sales recently dropped to their lowest in months. Youth unemployment, excluding students, climbed to 18.9% in August, a two-year high.
A long-running property crisis has weakened consumer confidence, reduced spending, and pushed youth unemployment higher.
'Rat people': What people are posting
Many young Chinese have responded with lifestyles such as “lying flat,” a term that describes opting for a stress-free, simple life. Bloggers who shared this way of living online recently saw their accounts banned and videos deleted.
New expressions of discontent continue to appear online, such as “rat people,” a trend where young people describe themselves as avoiding the outside world by staying in bed and relying on food delivery.
How government is responding
Popular platforms like Weibo, Kuaishou and Xiaohongshu have also been punished for allowing “harmful” content, including celebrity gossip, to dominate trending lists.
The regulator said it will also act against posts that spread fear, encourage hostility between groups, or promote “defeatist” ideas, such as “effort is useless.”
It also warned against businesses that “sell anxiety” by exploiting people’s worries about jobs, education, or relationships.
The regulator asked the public to “actively report such cases” in order to “stop the spread of negative sentiment.”
What experts say
Ja Ian Chong, a political science professor at the National University of Singapore, told CNN that many Chinese people feel pessimistic about their future.
He said the government may be trying to boost confidence and spending by controlling public sentiment online. But he added that without real improvements in jobs and opportunities, changing online chatter may not change how people actually feel.
“The state will try to clamp down on these new terms and expressions as they emerge, but they will simply continue to evolve,” Chong said.
Cyberspace administration of China announced a two-month campaign targeting content on social media, short-video apps, and live-streaming platforms, which are “maliciously misinterpret social phenomena, selectively exaggerates negative cases, and use them as an opportunity to promote nihilistic or otherwise negative worldviews.”
State-run media praised the campaign as a necessary step to restore order online, warning that negative content can cause panic and damage public trust.
“The harm of such maliciously divisive content is significant. It can trigger collective misunderstandings and social panic, marginalise reason and facts, and even spark offline conflicts causing long-term damage to public order and social trust,” it wrote.
What's behind move
The campaign comes at a time when China’s economic slowdown has hit young people the hardest. Growth in factory output and retail sales recently dropped to their lowest in months. Youth unemployment, excluding students, climbed to 18.9% in August, a two-year high.
A long-running property crisis has weakened consumer confidence, reduced spending, and pushed youth unemployment higher.
'Rat people': What people are posting
Many young Chinese have responded with lifestyles such as “lying flat,” a term that describes opting for a stress-free, simple life. Bloggers who shared this way of living online recently saw their accounts banned and videos deleted.
New expressions of discontent continue to appear online, such as “rat people,” a trend where young people describe themselves as avoiding the outside world by staying in bed and relying on food delivery.
How government is responding
Popular platforms like Weibo, Kuaishou and Xiaohongshu have also been punished for allowing “harmful” content, including celebrity gossip, to dominate trending lists.
The regulator said it will also act against posts that spread fear, encourage hostility between groups, or promote “defeatist” ideas, such as “effort is useless.”
It also warned against businesses that “sell anxiety” by exploiting people’s worries about jobs, education, or relationships.
The regulator asked the public to “actively report such cases” in order to “stop the spread of negative sentiment.”
What experts say
Ja Ian Chong, a political science professor at the National University of Singapore, told CNN that many Chinese people feel pessimistic about their future.
He said the government may be trying to boost confidence and spending by controlling public sentiment online. But he added that without real improvements in jobs and opportunities, changing online chatter may not change how people actually feel.
“The state will try to clamp down on these new terms and expressions as they emerge, but they will simply continue to evolve,” Chong said.
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