China's internet regulator on Monday declared a two-month nationwide campaign to curb any online content that promotes violent or hostile sentiment in society. Even pessimistic comments about the slowing economy will not be spared.
The campaign follows recent disciplinary actions against major platforms including short-video app Kuaishou, microblogging site Weibo and Instagram-like Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, over content violations.
Concern over negative sentiment has deepened this year as China's economy has struggled, while youth joblessness has remained a pressing issue.
The Cyberspace Administration of China said it would conduct comprehensive inspections of trending topics, content recommendations and comment sections on social media platforms. Content deemed problematic includes posts that incite fan group clashes or teach and sell doxxing techniques.
The initiative will also target issues such as fabricated information, rumours about the economy, distorted narratives of incidents, and "sensational conspiracy theories."
Posts that hype up pessimism and negativity with claims like "hard work is useless" or "studying is useless", and those that "exaggerate isolated negative cases and push negative outlooks on life" will also come under scrutiny, the regulator said.
China enforces strict rules on online content. While Western platforms also regulate user behaviour, China's control is far more extensive, motivated by concerns that strong sentiment fanned by heated online discussions could unsettle society in the real world.
The announcement came a day after police in Beijing said they had taken "compulsory measures" against three individuals accused of spreading rumours about the death of well-known actor Yu Menglong, 37, who had starred in popular Chinese TV dramas.
The police said Yu "fell to his death after drinking", but the individuals fabricated information and spliced together fake videos to attract attention, "seriously disrupting public order."