(Beijing) China announced Saturday the launch of an online campaign against video-sharing apps and social networks that broadcast content “dangerous” to children.
The Cyberspace Administration of China said in a statement that it had begun a two-month program called “Clear and Bright” that was intended to “effectively strengthen the protection of minors on the Internet and create a healthier and safer digital environment.”
This will include “rectifying major problems” related to short video sharing and live streaming platforms, social networks, online sales sites, application catalogues, connected devices for children and online monitoring for minors, the regulator said.
Among the targeted items: e-commerce products that are sexually suggestive or considered “soft porn,” as well as information that would lead children to maintain “dangerous friendships” or transmit “dangerous values.” […] through maliciously crafted online jargon and buzzwords.”
The campaign will also target the distribution of videos deemed to promote bullying in schools, as well as “violent or gory” content in cartoons or children’s songs, or the use of “child internet stars” to generate money.
“We must be very attentive to new manifestations of problems specific to minors […] and together promote a positive online ecosystem,” the regulator called.
The ruling Communist Party tightly controls the internet in China, censoring content deemed vulgar, ostentatious or politically subversive.
The latest campaign comes at the start of the school summer holidays and follows similar schemes launched in recent years.
Several celebrity influencers have been blocked under a separate “Clear and Bright” program launched in April aimed at people who engage in “ostentatious” behavior and “exhibit extravagant lifestyles filled with money.”
The government has also significantly reduced the amount of online gaming time allowed to under-18s and has already cracked down on e-commerce platforms selling products it considers undesirable, including programs to circumvent its internet limitations.