bodyType

customContents

entityId

printArticlePageQuery

filter

article

body

urlAlias

articleSectionsContent

articleSeoArticle

articleSourceHeaderArticle

contentSchemaRenderContent

contentSubHeadlineContent

contentHeadlineContent

mainImagePrintArticleArticle

authorBlockPrintArticleArticle

contentSponsorTagContent

articlePianoPaywallContent

scmpYoutubeContent

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

query printArticlePageQuery(
  $entityId: String!
  $customContents: [CustomContentInput]
  $bodyType: BodyFormatTypeEnum
) {
  article(filter: {entityId: $entityId}) {
    entityId
    body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
      json
    }
    urlAlias
    ...articleSectionsContent
    ...articleSeoArticle_3o8td4
    ...articleSourceHeaderArticle
    ...contentSchemaRenderContent
    ...contentSubHeadlineContent
    ...contentHeadlineContent
    ...mainImagePrintArticleArticle
    ...authorBlockPrintArticleArticle
    ...contentSponsorTagContent
    ...articlePianoPaywallContent
    ...scmpYoutubeContent
    ...hooksTrackPageViewArticle
    id
  }
}

fragment articlePianoPaywallContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksPaywallPromiseContent
}

fragment articleSectionsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      ...helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection
      ...entityLink
      name
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment articleSeoArticle_3o8td4 on Article {
  ...hooksArticleSeoArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersGetArticleTypeArticle
  entityId
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
  summary {
    text
  }
  subHeadline {
    text
  }
  body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
    text
  }
  keywords
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  topics {
    name
    entityId
    id
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  images {
    style(filter: {style: "768x768"}) {
      url
    }
  }
  readingTime
}

fragment articleSourceHeaderArticle on Article {
  urlAlias
  ...entityLink
}

fragment authorBlockPrintArticleArticle on Article {
  ...defaultArticleDateContent
  ...authorNamesArticle
}

fragment authorNameAuthor on Author {
  ...entityLink
  name
  entityUuid
}

fragment authorNamesArticle on Article {
  authorLocations
  authors {
    entityId
    location
    ...authorNameAuthor
    id
  }
}

fragment blockquoteQuoteContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment contentHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  socialHeadline
  ...contentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
}

fragment contentNewsletterWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
    id
  }
  sections {
    value {
      relatedNewsletters {
        ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
        id
      }
      id
    }
  }
  ... on Article {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment contentSchemaRenderContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...blockquoteQuoteContent
  ...imageContent
  ...inlineWidgetContent
  ...photoGalleryWidgetContent
  ...scmpYoutubeContent
}

fragment contentShareWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  shortUrl
  socialHeadline
  headline
}

fragment contentSponsorTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentSubHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  subHeadline {
    json
  }
  summary {
    json
  }
  ...contentSchemaRenderContent
}

fragment defaultArticleDateContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksArticleDateUtilsContent
}

fragment entityLink on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  __typename
  entityId
  entityUuid
  urlAlias
  urlRedirect {
    toUrl
    id
  }
  application {
    entityId
    id
  }
  ... on Section {
    fullSectionPath {
      entityId
      id
    }
    parentSection
  }
  ...helpersAppBarVariantBase
  ...helpersApplicationBase
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersAppBarVariantBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsLiveArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...helpersSectionContent
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersApplicationBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
}

fragment helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection on Section {
  name
}

fragment helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle on Article {
  entityId
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  disableOffPlatformContent
  sponsorType
  published
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment helpersCheckIsLiveArticle on Article {
  flattenTypeIds
  liveArticle {
    status
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    paywallTypes {
      entityUuid
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsStyleArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersGetArticleTypeArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        entityId
        id
      }
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter on Newsletter {
  entityId
  name
  alternativeName
  description {
    text
  }
  summary {
    text
  }
  homepageDescription {
    text
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle on Article {
  authors {
    types
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersStyleSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersUseContentSponsorContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    sponsor {
      ...sponsorTagSponsor
      name
      type
      id
    }
    id
  }
  ... on Article {
    sponsorType
  }
  ...helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent
}

fragment hooksArticleDateUtilsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  createdDate
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
}

fragment hooksArticleSeoArticle on Article {
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle
  entityId
  headline
  socialHeadline
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
  images {
    generic_og: style(filter: {style: "og_image_scmp_generic"}) {
      url
    }
    styles(filter: {styles: ["og_image_posties_article", "og_postmag", "og_image_style", "og_image_scmp_analysis", "og_image_scmp_explainer", "og_image_scmp_editorial", "og_image_scmp_fact_check", "og_image_scmp_debate", "og_image_scmp_live", "og_image_scmp_obituary", "og_image_scmp_opinion", "og_image_scmp_review", "og_image_scmp_series", "og_image_scmp_generic"]}) {
      url
      style
    }
    type
  }
  urlAlias
}

fragment hooksContentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        name
        entityId
        description {
          text
        }
        id
      }
    }
    ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  }
  flag
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  ...hooksContentHelperContent
}

fragment hooksContentHelperContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle
  ...helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle
  ...helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle
  flag
}

fragment hooksPaywallPromiseContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment hooksTrackPageViewArticle on Article {
  entityId
  publishedDate
  headline
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  entityUuid
}

fragment imageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  ...checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent
}

fragment inlineWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentNewsletterWidgetContent
}

fragment mainImagePrintArticleArticle on Article {
  images {
    title
    url
    isSlideshow
    size_652x446: style(filter: {style: "652x446"}) {
      url
    }
  }
}

fragment photoGalleryDialogContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment photoGalleryWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...photoGalleryDialogContent
}

fragment scmpYoutubeContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  publishedDate
}

fragment sponsorTagSponsor on Sponsor {
  name
  type
  images {
    url
  }
}


sections

types

disableOffPlatformContent

sponsorType

published

headline

socialHeadline

authors

images

publishedDate

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

keywords

topics

readingTime

authorLocations

entityUuid

Josh Ye

Tracy Qu

China’s internet watchdog announced new details for its plan to crack down on “self-media”, social media accounts run by independent content producers, which analysts interpret as targeting political content and comes after authorities targeted citizen journalists for reporting on conditions in Wuhan last year in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) is exploring measures to control the distribution of information across all internet platforms to end “disruption to the order of internet broadcasts”, the agency said on Sunday. The campaign will primarily focus on cleaning up self-media accounts, but it also targets social media trending charts, push notifications and short video platforms, according to the report.
The announcement comes a week after the CAC updated rules on managing public internet accounts, the first change made since 2017, which are set to take effect on February 22. The rules specify the type of content platforms should ban, including fake information, rumours and artificially inflated traffic numbers.
The announcement makes it clear that the CAC aims to curb independent reporting and reposting of information considered illegal while promoting government-sanctioned stories.


The rise of social media platforms such as Tencent Holdings’ WeChat and Sina Weibo, and more recently a new breed of video-sharing platforms such as Douyin, Kuaishou and Bilibili, has enabled countless self-media accounts around the country, giving a voice to millions of Chinese netizens over the past decade.
But in recent years, Chinese regulators have taken an increasingly hard line against self-media outlets in an effort to clean up Big Tech business practices.
“The government is trying to probably treat these platforms, especially the major tech giants, not only as private companies, but also more like government infrastructure,” said Jyh-an Lee, a law professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) who researches internet law.
Lee said China has been stepping up its efforts against user-generated content even as it recognises the power they have to fuel certain economic activities. The government primarily wants companies to impose boundaries on political content, he said.
“Adhering to correct political direction and directing public opinions and value orientations are the top priorities [for companies], no matter what kind of platforms or forms of communication they adopt,” CAC minister Zhuang Rongwen said in a statement.


Internet clean-up campaigns are a regular occurrence in China, and they have targeted self-media in the past. Last July, CAC launched a three-month campaign with the aim of cultivating the “healthy and orderly development” of self-media. The organisation said some self-media spread false information, distorted party and country history, and promoted the wrong values.
CAC’s decision to more closely scrutinise self-media accounts comes a month after Beijing decided to go ahead with the country’s top annual parliamentary meetings, known as the “two sessions”, scheduled for March 4 amid a resurgence in Covid-19 infections. Internet restrictions are typically tightened in China in the weeks leading up to the meetings.
Content moderation can get costlier with China‘s new social media rules
“We have to treat the regulations of self-media as a preeminently important mission, furthering the degree to which we punish and deal with illegal, unregulated accounts and the platforms that they are on,” Zhuang said.
“We have to give regulators teeth and the violative entities a long memory,” he added.

China now has 940 million internet users, larger than the population of Europe, and 99.3 per cent also use mobile devices, according to the latest report by the China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC). Self-media accounts have become a popular source of information for many people, especially on the mobile app WeChat, China’s largest social media platform, where content producers can make money from tips.
Citizen journalists played a unique role in reporting information from Wuhan when the city was locked down after the coronavirus outbreak. Videos and images circulated widely online, purportedly showed packed hospitals and dead people in hallways.
A 37-year-old citizen journalist named Zhang Zhan live-streamed reports from Wuhan last February before being arrested a few months later. Zhang had been critical of the government’s response in Wuhan, accusing it of covering up the severity of the viral outbreak and infringing on human rights.
In December, Zhang was sentenced to four years in prison after being found guilty of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, a broad charge often used for stifling dissent.

China’s clean-up campaigns often target different types of content, especially those considered morally objectionable such as pornography and gambling. However, CUHK’s Lee said this new campaign is specifically focused on political content.
“[Xi Jinping] cares a lot about the internet and the content regulation compared with previous administrations,” Lee said. “He also imposed more control over the internet and online information.”
More recently, the growth of online video has allowed a new generation of tech companies to wrestle away attention from entrenched players like Tencent and Sina. ByteDance, Kuaishou and Bilibili have become China’s hottest tech stars.
How US newsletter site Substack took inspiration from China’s WeChat
ByteDance’s Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, is now one of the country’s most popular social platforms. Rival Kuaishou just held Hong Kong’s hottest IPO with shares slated to start trading on February 5, which could see the company valued at more than US$60 billion. Bilibili listed on the Nasdaq in 2018 and is now worth more than US$39 billion.
However, the government’s heavy hand in content management could be costly for the country’s tech giants, according to Mark Tanner, managing director at Shanghai-based consultancy China Skinny.
“For the platforms, they will need more processing power to monitor many simultaneous live streams for all of the disallowed terms,” Tanner said.


China’s internet watchdog intensifies campaign against independent content creators, says regulators must have ‘teeth’

Self-media accounts on WeChat and Weibo have become popular ways of getting information online in China, but newer video platforms from the likes of ByteDance and Kuaishou are stealing some of the thunder from Tencent and Sina. Photo: Reuters

Zhuang Rongwen, Minister of Cyberspace Administration of China, reads a message from Chinese President Xi Jinping at the opening ceremony of the World Internet Conference (WIC) in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, China, November 23, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song

FILE - In this Jan. 25, 2020, file photo, an ambulance drives across a nearly empty bridge in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province. The Chinese city of Wuhan is looking back on a year since it was placed under a 76-day lockdown beginning Jan. 23, 2020. (Chinatopix via AP, File)

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China’s internet watchdog announced a crackdown on self-media accounts in an effort to curb political content from independent content creators
Self-media accounts have become a popular source of information across platforms such as Tencent’s WeChat and ByteDance’s Douyin, China’s TikTok



China’s internet watchdog announced a crackdown on self-media accounts in an effort to curb political content from citizen journalists, even as they remain a popular source of information on platforms like WeChat and Douyin.


China’s internet watchdog intensifies campaign against independent content creators, says regulators must have ‘teeth’

China’s internet watchdog announced a crackdown on self-media accounts in an effort to curb political content from independent content creators Self-media accounts have become a popular source of information across platforms such as Tencent’s WeChat and ByteDance’s Douyin, China’s TikTok

China’s internet watchdog announced a crackdown on self-media accounts in an effort to curb political content from independent content creators

Self-media accounts have become a popular source of information across platforms such as Tencent’s WeChat and ByteDance’s Douyin, China’s TikTok