Since the Chinese Communist Party launched the “Clear Sky Operation,” the control of online speech has been escalating. In September of this year, several popular anchor accounts suddenly disappeared from major platforms. Following the news of popular bloggers Lan Zhanfei and Zhang Xuefeng being banned, on September 30, internet personality “Hu Chenfeng” had his accounts on Douyin, Weibo, Xiaohongshu, and Bilibili permanently deactivated or cleared, marking his complete withdrawal from domestic social platforms.
Hu Chenfeng has faced three bans since September. On September 16, his accounts on platforms like Douyin, Weibo, and Bilibili were suddenly banned across the internet, his live streams stopped, promotional functions became ineffective, and content updates halted, although there was no indication of the ban. On September 20, Hu Chenfeng’s Douyin and Weibo accounts were simultaneously blocked from posting, all videos were taken down, but the accounts could still be searched. On the 30th, Hu Chenfeng’s account was deleted from the entire web.
Mainland netizen Yang Lin revealed to Da Ji Yuan, “Nowadays, people want to record everything they see in online live broadcasts. Hu Chenfeng, who saw an elderly person on the street living on only 107 yuan in monthly pension, got targeted as a result.”
The video quickly went viral online, made it to Weibo’s top search, and then was deleted, leading to Hu Chenfeng’s first account ban. In total, he has been banned five times, with two being temporary bans. As a staunch supporter of Apple products, Hu Chenfeng has publicly labeled Android users and those with different values as “lower-class, low-income” people, suggesting that cities without Sam’s Club or Apple flagship stores are unsuitable for living, which contributed to the crackdown.
Yang Lin expressed, “In the current environment in China, it’s getting darker and truth is becoming scarce. Many friends are unreachable now as their social circles have been restricted. If one isn’t careful and crosses the Communist Party’s red line, they get banned, and some even get invited for a ‘tea session.’ So, with the increasing incidents in China, it’s becoming unbearable, and there’s no need to endure it anymore.”
Mainland resident Wang Xia pointed out, “If what Hu Chenfeng says doesn’t sit well with the authorities, he needs to be silenced. Having accounts closed or deleted is the lighter consequence; being detained or sentenced is nothing out of the ordinary.” “As long as there’s incitement and provocation, if ordinary citizens had the skills to incite rebellion like that, you’d have been overthrown long ago without needing to resort to appeals. Isn’t this just one-party dictatorship? No freedom of speech, no freedom of the press.”
Official accounts from Zhejiang and Guangdong criticized internet personalities Hu Chenfeng and Zhang Xuefeng, accusing Hu Chenfeng of inciting negative emotions among groups and Zhang Xuefeng of undermining the country’s long-term talent development.
On September 30, the WeChat public account “Zhejiang Propaganda” published an article titled “Forcing the Distinction Between ‘Apple People’ and ‘Android People’ – What’s the Intention?” The official Guandong website Nanfang Net also criticized Zhang Xuefeng in an article titled “Education Cannot Be Hijacked by Utilitarianism” on September 25. Both of them became the main targets of the CCP’s “Clean Sky Operation” in September.