Why is China targeting ‘negative emotions’ in its latest online clean-up campaign?
Internet watchdog’s crackdown broadens battle against pessimism, punishes influencers and platforms ‘selling anxiety’ on web
In a statement, the administration listed a wide range of targets for this year’s campaign, including: “inciting extreme group antagonism”; forcibly linking social issues with identity, region and gender; “spreading negative and pessimistic emotions” such as referring to education or hard work as “useless”; and “selling anxiety-inducing content and courses related to employment, dating and education”.
While Beijing’s efforts to censor the internet are not new, analysts say the latest two-month crackdown is different as it specifically targets online behaviour that regulators blame for triggering or exacerbating negative emotions.
Authorities have also placed the responsibility for curbing such behaviour at the doorstep of China’s internet companies.
In September, the CAC worked with local agencies to investigate five social media platforms, including RedNote and Weibo, for “failing to implement their primary responsibility for information content management” and “promoting celebrities’ personal activities and trivial matters”.