On July 29, the Chinese Communist Party’s “Cyberspace Administration” announced the launch of a two-month special campaign nationwide called “Cleaning Up and Rectifying False Information from ‘Self-Media’ Platforms,” aimed at strengthening control over public opinion. Some netizens exclaimed that freedom of information was coming to an end and that major changes were on the horizon for the live streaming industry.
The Cyberspace Administration of China issued a notice on the 29th, stating that the special campaign had commenced on the 24th of this month. The campaign aims to crack down on the chaotic dissemination of false information by “self-media” platforms, targeting malicious hype, misleading the public through various means, distorting facts without proper attribution,and spreading misinformation in professional fields. It specifically focuses on addressing the spread of false information by “self-media” in important areas such as finance, military, and diplomacy, as well as issues related to major public opinion, emergencies, casualties, etc.
Mainland netizen Lei Ming (pseudonym) told a reporter that “the CCP government’s control over online public opinion is aimed at preventing the people from speaking the truth. in China, there is no internet freedom, no freedom of information. Take the recent severe flooding in Beijing and the water disaster in Hebei, the authorities feel embarrassed about it and don’t like to hear the truth. They will crack down on the people, cutting off internet connections, deleting posts, and banning accounts. They do whatever they want, and the people have no place to reason with them.”
A video showed a woman witnessing her house being flooded, stating, “I never thought I would be fighting floods at home, look over here, it’s almost up to my waist…” Afterwards, the blogger’s profile picture, name, and IP address disappeared, leaving only a row of numbers behind the user name.
Some netizens expressed that “the CCP’s heavy-handed approach has led to a major overhaul in the short video and live streaming industry. Despite the current hot weather, the cold winter of short video content seems to have arrived.”
Another netizen commented, “Platform qualification reviews are becoming stricter, multi-dimensional oversight, platform flow restrictions, the days of making money on the side are completely over.”
Mainland netizen Li Lin (pseudonym) told a reporter, “The CCP has been strict in censoring Weibo and WeChat for many years. If ordinary people show interest in any topic and speak a few honest words, they risk being banned or having their posts deleted for spreading rumors, exaggerating, or disseminating false information. The crackdown on the internet has been going on for years, it’s not something new. Since 2014 or 2015, my accounts have been closed many times, and it hasn’t stopped.”
Li Lin added, “The Cyberspace Administration has been cracking down for so many years, and now netizens no longer care how they are being suppressed. Those who need to speak the truth continue to do so, those who need to comment continue to comment. However, unexpectedly, the authorities deleted comments from the comment sections. Even CCTV and Xinhua News Agency have closed their comment sections. In such a large country and media outlet, shutting down comments means they don’t want people to speak. What does their so-called crackdown mean? Their crackdown is just to intimidate the people.”
Overall, the recent actions taken by the Chinese government have raised concerns among citizens regarding the suppression of free speech and the control of information flow through online platforms.