Authorities in China have commenced a two-month regulatory drive to purge materialistic, violent, and sexualised content from the country’s booming micro drama industry.
The National Radio and Television Administration stated that the campaign is intended to cultivate a “clean and healthy” media environment, reports BBC.
The regulator has identified eight specific categories of content for the crackdown.
These include “ostentatious displays of wealth,” soft pornography, and what the administration describes as “distorted views on marriage and relationships”.
Additionally, the initiative will target feudalistic themes, vulgar titles, copyright breaches, and stories centred on violent revenge. Micro dramas, which consist of brief, serialised episodes designed for mobile devices, have evolved into a multi-billion dollar global phenomenon.
They typically rely on fast-moving narratives involving “secret billionaire husbands” or illicit romances to maintain high viewer engagement.
This growth has spurred significant international investment, with production houses in the United States and South Korea establishing their own studios to tap into the sector.
As part of the enforcement, provincial officials are mandated to perform spot checks on local production firms. Companies found in breach of standards must implement immediate rectifications.
The national administration plans to conduct independent inspections to assist in the long-term refinement of industry regulations.
This intervention follows a separate 2025 campaign aimed at online content promoting “pessimistic sentiments”. That previous crackdown focused on narratives that suggested hard work was “useless” or encouraged a sense of “world-weariness” among the public.
