China’s cyber police directs news sites, app developers to promote ‘positive energy’ online
- The move is part of the regulator’s recent initiatives to rid the domestic internet of ‘vulgar and lowbrow content’
China’s powerful internet regulator has called on operators of news sites and app developers to focus on producing high-quality, short video content that can help spread “positive energy” online, underscoring Beijing’s tightened grip on disseminated information in the world’s second largest economy.
The Cyberspace Administration of China gave that directive in a meeting with various state media as well as operators of websites and major short-video platforms, who were asked to step up efforts to improve the “attractiveness, appeal and influence” of their content as part of recent initiatives to rid the domestic internet of “vulgar and lowbrow content”, according to a post published on the agency’s website on Wednesday.
It did not identify those who attended that meeting held last week.
The expression “positive energy”, or zheng neng liang, became a grass roots catchphrase last year on popular microblogging site Sina Weibo. The phrase is also used to denote an optimistic attitude, an inspiring manner and a healthy lifestyle.
The latest move to tighten control on short video apps, which boast about 594 million users in China, has come amid the internet watchdog’s ongoing clean-up of domestic online content, which has seen it erase more than 7 million items on the web since January 3 and terminate more than 9,300 smartphone apps that were deemed “harmful and damaging to the internet ecosystem”, according to a notice it sent to media last week.