The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has once again tightened its control over the internet. On March 21, the CCP Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission issued a notice requiring comprehensive regulation of short video content labeling, including incorporating fictional depictions, staged marketing, and AI-generated content into the scope of “mandatory identification.” Outsiders believe that this is the authorities further shifting the censorship checkpoint forward, attempting to strengthen ideological control through “self-examination” by the public.
According to the CCP Cyberspace Affairs Commission, six key platforms including Douyin, Kuaishou, Tencent, Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, and Weibo have already implemented these measures. In the past month, these platforms have cleared more than 37,000 irregular short videos, handled over 3,400 accounts, and conducted “retrospective labeling” on over 600,000 videos.
Xu Jia (pseudonym), a self-media practitioner in Shenyang, told the Epoch Times that the intensity of this action is unusual: “The core of this rectification by the Cyberspace Affairs Commission is that labeling has changed from being a ‘suggested option’ to a ‘mandatory step.’ Before you post a video, you must first select a category. If you forget to select, it will be troublesome, which means that the original responsibility of the platform’s initial review has been forcibly shared with the creators. This makes us self-examine the content of our videos.”
On March 21 in Liaoning, a netizen was banned from broadcasting on Douyin after just 10 minutes, leading to a public outburst: “These garbage platforms don’t let people speak, it’s too oppressive! You’ve turned society into a prison-like environment. I’ve had 20 accounts banned, this bandit country.”
The netizen also said: “I’m over 60 years old, no medical insurance or social security. My company’s 4.87 million yuan was taken away by the Communist bandits, and I haven’t been able to recover it in 26 years, petitioned over 300 times. Now I’m live streaming on Douyin to make a living, and you’re banning me. Do you want people to live? You bandit country, you’ll never have civilization for 10,000 years!”
Observers point out that under the mandatory labeling system, videos exposing the dark side of society like real job-hunting or petitioning are highly likely to be directly banned by platforms on grounds of “fictional depiction” or “malicious staging.” The labeling authority has become a new tool for the authorities to maintain stability.
Xiao Song, a blogger in Dandong who creates short videos in the genre of drama, told reporters that the current creative environment is like walking on thin ice, getting more precarious day by day: “Before, as long as the content did not cross the line, it could be posted. Now, it needs to be categorized first. If the labeling is inaccurate, there could be reduced visibility or even account suspension. One of my friends has started reducing the upload of drama content out of fear of being reported for ‘false staging.’ The Communist Party doesn’t want people to live.”
According to Xinhua News Agency reporting the Cyberspace Affairs Commission’s claims, this move is aimed at addressing the issues of “inconsistent standards” and “misleading the public.” However, a Guangzhou experienced internet product manager whose last name is revealed only as Zeng, disclosed to the reporter that besides imposing requirements and fines on platforms, the Cyberspace Affairs Commission is also holding users responsible: “They have made labeling a necessary step for posting to make creators bear the initial responsibility. Once there is so-called political correctness or social impact issues in the content, the authorities can follow the trail directly to investigate individuals.”
In recent years, the CCP has significantly intensified crackdowns on AI-generated content. Police in Zhejiang and Guangzhou recently reported multiple cases of false information generated using AI, with many involved individuals receiving administrative detention. For instance, the Tianhe police in Guangzhou punished a man named Li who used AI technology to generate fake videos and published them on social platforms, with a 10-day detention penalty.
In response, self-media person Xu Jia expressed concern: “Many videos now are a result of human-machine collaboration, with blurred boundaries. If mandatory labeling is universally required, it not only increases operating costs but more importantly, it puts an ‘electronic shackle’ on creators, further compressing the space for free expression.”
Wang Kuiming (pseudonym), a retired teacher from Renmin University of China, told reporters that short videos have become the main channel for people to obtain information, and this move by the authorities aims to establish a comprehensive digital labeling system. He warned, “The key issue is not the labeling itself. If they (officials) expand the definition of ‘fiction,’ any content that does not align with the official line may be labeled as ‘staged’ or ‘false’ and subjected to crackdown.”
On an overseas social platform X, a netizen commented, “The CCP is turning short video platforms into a second People’s Daily, where all content has to be uniform, and all you’ll see are ‘model performances’ in the future.”
Some mainland Chinese netizens lamented, “It used to be for entertainment watching videos, now we have to look at the labels first. Platforms are becoming more like traditional media, losing all meaning.”
According to the latest data from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), the number of short video users in China has exceeded 1 billion. With regulatory measures continuously escalating, the Chinese internet is facing an unprecedented atmosphere of suppression.