China cracks down on pessimism: New campaign targets negative social media posts

Feeling sad and frustrated about worldly things, and want to rant on social media? Well, you can’t do so if you are in China, as the government has launched a two-month-long campaign to keep pessimistic people off the internet.

China’s Cyberspace Administration has said it will curb social media posts that “excessively exaggerate negative and pessimistic sentiments”. The goal is to “rectify negative emotions” and “create a more civilised and rational online environment”.

China has been struggling with an economic slowdown driven by a property crisis, high youth unemployment, and intense competition for college placements and jobs, factors that have fueled a growing sense of disillusionment among its younger generation.

What kind of posts will be targeted?

Narratives like “studying is useless”, “hard work is useless”, and stories that promote “world-weariness” will be taken off social media apps, including Xiaohongshu, Kuaishou and Weibo.

Simon Sihang Luo, an assistant professor of social sciences at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, told the BBC that young people in China “have serious questions about future prospects of their lives” and “must confront the fact that their livelihood is very likely going to be worse than their parents’ generation.”

Last week, popular content creator Hu Chenfeng had all his posts removed from his social media accounts without any official explanation from Chinese authorities. However, many believe the move was prompted by a viral comment he made, in which he categorised people and objects as either “Apple” or “Android”, using the latter to imply inferiority.

Such posts, the Chinese government believes, instil a sense of inequality among social media users because they reinforce the social divide, the very evil Chinese Communist Party is against.

What are the new measures?

The Cyberspace Administration has warned social media apps of “strict punishments” or failing to rein in “negative” content, such as “sensationalising celebrities’ personal updates” and other “trivial information”.

“A clear and healthy cyberspace is in the interests of the people,” it said in a statement.

Recent research confirms a rising sense of pessimism about the future in China. Experts say the Communist Party is fully aware of this sentiment, which is why it’s actively working to suppress signs of it.