China has released new guidelines on censoring short videos, prohibiting everything from foot fetishes to spoofing the national anthem, as Beijing continues to clamp down on “harmful” information.
The China Netcasting Services Association, one of the country’s largest government-backed internet associations, published a detailed list of 100 types of content that short video platforms must scrub.
Political subjects topped the list, including Taiwan independence, criticism of Communist Party leaders, and parodying China’s national anthem.
Love and marriage
The new rules also cover a wide range of other topics, including “money worship”, unhealthy views of marriage and love, and “unverified” footage of protests and gatherings. They also apply to non-video content on the apps, including subtitles, comments and video titles.
Over the past year, Beijing has ramped up its crackdown on “illegal” online content, as the government tightens policing of China’s already censored web, which blocks many foreign websites.
In 2018, Chinese authorities shuttered 26,000 “illegal” websites and deleted about six million online posts containing vulgar content, Xinhua said. China’s cyberspace authority last year also scrubbed over 9,000 accounts on social media platforms.
