China launches online crackdown on ‘harmful’ content targeting children

China on Saturday announced a new crackdown on its tightly controlled internet, taking aim at video apps and social media platforms to purge content deemed harmful to children.

The ruling Communist Party strictly regulates the domestic web, censoring content deemed vulgar, ostentatious or politically subversive.

It has periodically clamped down on specific sectors, from online influencers to gaming and shopping platforms.

In a statement on Saturday, the country’s internet watchdog said it was launching a two-month “Clear and Bright” campaign “to effectively strengthen the protection of minors on the internet and create a healthier, safer online environment”.

The move will “rectify prominent problems” related to short-video and livestreaming platforms, social media sites, online shopping platforms, app stores, smart devices for children and online controls for minors, the statement by the Cyberspace Administration of China said.

It targets diverse behaviors such as broadcasting videos that appear to glorify school bullying, adding “violent and gory” content to classic children’s cartoons and songs, and generating profits from underage “internet celebrity kids”.

It also aims to eradicate “softly pornographic” and sexually suggestive products from e-commerce platforms, as well as information that draws children into “harmful friendships” or “transmits harmful values… (through) maliciously fabricated online jargon and vulgar buzzwords”.

“We must pay close attention to new manifestations of problems specific to minors… and jointly uphold a good online ecology,” the statement said.

The latest crackdown comes as Chinese children begin their summer school holiday, and follows several similar campaigns in recent years.

Censors blocked multiple well-known influencers after another “Clear and Bright” campaign was launched in April against “ostentatious personas… (who) deliberately display extravagant lifestyles filled with money”.

The government has also severely curtailed the amount of time that children under 18 can play online games, and has previously trained its sights on e-commerce platforms selling products it deems undesirable, such as software that skirts official internet controls.

© 2024 AFP