China starts internet purge to eradicate "bad culture" around Lunar New Year

 

China has started a push to purge the internet of "vulgar" and "unhealthy" material. According to South China Morning Post, the month-long campaign was started just before the Lunar New Year, which started on January 22. (SCMP).

The outlet added that the nation's internet watchdog is specifically focusing on footage that features scantily clad women posing in various locales and past offenders submitting material about their time in prison. The Chinese cyberspace authority issued a directive in this regard on January 18.

According to the SCMP article, the crackdown intends to "control the development of bad culture, defend the benefits and rights of online users, clean up the online ecosystem, and establish a favourable, civilised, and healthy climate in public opinion."

In order to limit the transmission of information throughout the New Year holiday period, the nation's internet censors are examining the home pages of important websites, trending topic search lists, recommendations, and user comment sections.

According to the SCMP article, officials claim that female influencers have been wearing "revealing" clothing in an effort to attract followers while the ex-convicts have been accused of "misleading" the public.

According to cybersecurity officials, the women have been accused of portraying themselves in a "decent picture" by acting "sexy" in front of backdrops like hotels, beautiful landscapes, and farms.

The authorities are also targeting those who flaunt their money, eat too much or drink too much.

In order to regulate the online activity of more than 1 billion internet users, according to SCMP, China started a similar "purification" process last year as well.

Following a crackdown last year in which authorities targeted the entertainment and online industries, some celebrities fell victim to the crackdown.