The Chinese State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television recently issued a notice requiring all micro-drama productions to obtain an “Online Drama Distribution License” or complete the corresponding online registration procedures before they can be broadcasted online. In case of violations, regulatory authorities will take measures such as interviews, suspension of broadcast for rectification, etc. Since June last year, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has enforced a “review before broadcast” policy for micro-dramas. Experts and scholars analyze why the CCP is now intensifying its supervision of micro-dramas.
In recent years, under the pretext of “preventing market chaos, illegal transactions, and non-compliant operations,” the CCP government has increased its regulatory efforts on emerging industries, including micro-dramas, short videos, e-commerce, among others.
On February 5th, the National Radio and Television Administration of China’s official website released a notice regarding the excessive commercialization of “mini-programs” (episodes lasting about 1 to 2 minutes, priced at around 1 RMB each) leading to content risks in micro-dramas. Therefore, the notice titled “Notice on Further Coordinating Development and Safely Promoting the Healthy Prosperity of the Network Micro-Drama Industry” was issued.
The notice stipulates the implementation of a whitelist system, requiring all micro-dramas on online video platforms, mini-programs, and traffic guidance platforms to possess the “Online Drama Distribution License” or complete the corresponding online registration procedures. Before the program goes online, it must display the “Online Drama Distribution License” number or program registration filing number in the required format at the beginning.
The notice states that online video platforms are prohibited from uploading micro-dramas without the necessary permits or registration numbers and are not allowed to recommend or promote them. Regulatory authorities will issue rectification notices, interviews, suspension for rectification, recommend adjustments to chief editors, and hold the main operators of websites accountable for platforms that illegally broadcast, direct traffic, or promote micro-dramas that do not comply with regulations.
Starting from June 2024, the CCP implemented the “review before broadcast” policy for micro-dramas, prohibiting the online dissemination of micro-dramas that have not been reviewed and filed and adopting a “classification and layered review” based on investment amounts. Micro-dramas recommended on the platform homepage require review by the CCP’s State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television. Micro-dramas covering significant topics or involving politics, military, diplomacy, national security, united front work, nationalities, religion, judiciary, or public security are subject to review in accordance with relevant joint review mechanisms.
Why is the CCP now further strengthening its control over micro-dramas? Dr. Wu Zuolai, a scholar in the United States, told Epoch Times that a large number of people are unemployed without job opportunities, one of the reasons for the significant development of short videos (micro-dramas). There is a massive amount of micro-dramas appearing online, on platforms like YouTube and Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book), reaching almost a national level of production of micro-dramas, involving millions of people including villagers, foot masseurs, or construction workers, estimated to be engaged in short video production or product endorsements.
He said that the development of short videos and the influencer industry in China has reached a remarkable level, even taking the lead globally. TikTok and Xiaohongshu have penetrated into the United States. With the CCP expanding overseas under the banner of “telling the Chinese story,” internally, due to the proliferation of videos, accompanied by a wealth of information including violence, adult content, and humor, it must control them to prevent any negative impact.
“These short videos will bring about an important consequence – immediate upload to the internet will lead to a chain reaction of explosions. Where there are violent attacks, officials being killed, or grassroots uprising, these things are hard to prevent. The CCP’s control of short videos is not about controlling comedy; it is about controlling what affects its stability, opposes the CCP, or reveals the truth about society – that’s the main focus.”
Dr. Wu Zuolai mentioned that when he was in Beijing before going abroad, applications like WeChat and Weibo were very common. The CCP set up a massive studio in Tianjin, recruiting staff at low wages for manual review. Now, the review process relies on technology like big data to block numerous accounts and content.
“Now, the CCP is intensifying the review of short videos, primarily to prevent leaks. Using social media, many people are revealing incidents of their loved ones dying or being in intensive care units. However, the CCP continues to suppress the truth about the epidemic. Dr. Wu Zuolai said that although the true data is not disclosed by the CCP, looking at the expressions of many netizens online provides some insight.”
Li Yuanhua, an expert on China issues and a scholar in Australia, mentioned during an interview that the micro-drama market is vast and will not escape the CCP’s scrutiny, as the authoritarian centralized regime controls everything. The rapid development of micro-dramas has captured a significant market share. Nowadays, almost everyone has a smartphone, with people spending hours daily on their phones. The dissemination rate of micro-dramas and the target audience are significant, which means the CCP will not neglect supervising this market.
The profit models of micro-dramas include advertising placements, product endorsements, gratuities, paid memberships, commercial placements, etc., with some income challenging for tax authorities to fully track.
While officials did not explicitly state that “micro-drama supervision aims at tax management purposes,” the licensing system indirect influences market transactions and tax compliance.
Li Yuanhua said that the micro-drama market is comparable to China’s film market. With such vast interests, various supervisory departments aim to carve a piece of the pie. Hence, on one hand, they execute so-called supervisory tasks, while on the other hand, they aim to profit from it. These dual reasons led to the new notice issued by the CCP to intensify the supervision of micro-dramas.
“Continuing in this manner will inevitably cause micro-dramas to lose vitality, with more and more restrictions. If the CCP’s State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television does not approve it, even with money or good scripts, it cannot be filmed. If produced according to the so-called mainstream themes of the CCP, viewers will lose interest as it aligns with the CCP’s propaganda, eventually leading to their demise in the cradle. If increasing regulation leads to reduced profits for investors, they will be less willing to invest, causing the market to shrink continuously.”
The Executive Director of the Taiwan Inspiration Association (TIA), Lai Rongwei, told Epoch Times that the investment cost of micro-dramas is relatively low, enticing everyone to seek profits. Therefore, the entire market has become chaotic, even revealing phenomena that may not resonate with the CCP’s “main theme,” possibly getting out of control. Moving from historical and period dramas to gender issues and possibly expanding to politics in the future, there is a discrepancy with the CCP’s “main theme.”
He pointed out that whether it’s traditional media or new media, social media, the CCP believes they should serve as the Party’s mouthpieces, tightly controlling them, fearing opportunists exploiting any gaps to create content touching on politically sensitive matters that could shake the foundation of the CCP.
Under excessive intervention by the CCP, the micro-drama market will stagnate, becoming stagnant water. Excessive scrutiny will reduce the entertainment and choice in the micro-drama market, retrogressing to a state where only content aligned with the CCP’s propaganda floods the arena, signaling a backward step. With the CCP already exerting strict political control, even the micro-drama market is being forced to regress. Such a move contradicts the CCP’s claims of boosting domestic demand to drive external demand, leading to national growth.
Li Yuanhua emphasized that the stricter the CCP’s regulation, the less room for vitality in the entertainment industry, as the so-called main theme of the CCP does not attract viewers, discouraging investment, and viewers from paying for politically aligned content.
Dr. Wu Zuolai also believes that the CCP’s increased control is harming those who rely on product endorsements for a living, endangering their livelihood.