Communist Country OUTLAWS Negative Emotions

China’s Communist Party has escalated its digital censorship campaign beyond banning pornography to now criminalizing “negative emotions” online, marking an unprecedented expansion of state control over private digital communications and thought.

Story Highlights

China launched a two-month national campaign in September 2025 targeting “negative emotions” alongside sexual content
Thousands imprisoned for pornography-related charges with some receiving life sentences for platform operations
LGBT content creators face disproportionate targeting and arrest under expanded censorship rules
Government removed 60,000+ apps and websites, clearing 19 million items deemed “harmful” content

Expanded Thought Policing Campaign Targets Digital Expression

The Cyberspace Administration of China launched a sweeping two-month campaign on September 22, 2025, targeting four categories of harmful online behavior. This represents a dramatic expansion beyond traditional pornography restrictions to include content promoting “excessive pessimism, including narratives like the futility of education or effort.” The campaign silenced Professor Zhang Xuefeng, an academic guidance influencer, for expressing views deemed too pessimistic about China’s education system, demonstrating the government’s willingness to criminalize emotional expression.

Severe Criminal Penalties Demonstrate Government’s Zero-Tolerance Approach

China’s enforcement of pornography laws has resulted in thousands of imprisonments across the country, with penalties reaching extreme levels. Chen Hui, founder of the “Erotica Juneday” platform, received a life imprisonment sentence in 2006, while eleven workers faced 3-12 year sentences in 2005 for disseminating obscene material. These harsh punishments reflect the Communist Party’s position that pornography constitutes “spiritual pollution” that “severely harms the physical and mental health of minors and seriously corrupts social ethos.”

Technological Infrastructure Enables Mass Content Removal

Chinese authorities have deployed sophisticated artificial intelligence systems developed by companies including Alibaba and Tuputech to detect and remove sexual content automatically. Between 2021-2022, this technological infrastructure enabled the removal of over 60,000 apps and websites while clearing 19 million items of content classified as harmful. The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television maintains complete prohibition on pornography with no signs of policy reversal, barring directors, producers, and actors from film competitions and threatening license revocation for studios.

The enforcement mechanism demonstrates how state control extends beyond explicit sexual material to regulate emotional expression and narrative content online. Users have migrated to alternative platforms like Twitter for covert consumption, while content creators face a chilling effect that particularly impacts LGBT-inclusive spaces. The government’s expansion into regulating “negative emotions” signals potential future restrictions on journalism, social commentary, and academic discourse that challenge state narratives.

Constitutional Concerns Over Expanded Government Overreach

Sociologist Li Yinhe publicly criticized the enforcement severity, calling on authorities to “either repeal the pornography laws in China or stop pretending the nation enjoys freedom of expression.” Critics argue the crackdown serves as a tool for the Communist Party to increase censorship and limit freedom of expression beyond stated public health objectives. The targeting of emotional content and narrative framing represents government overreach that undermines basic principles of free speech and individual liberty that Americans hold fundamental to constitutional governance.