Demise of Curiosity

Note: 持续收紧的言论管制，虽然挂一漏万，还是需要在关键节点上尽可能有所记录。在我看来，华尔街见闻和好奇心日报的倒掉，意味着两年前就已经生效的《互联网新闻信息服务管理规定》终于长出了牙齿，也意味着来自非官方认证渠道的信息（公众号、数字信息平台），即使不提供传统意义上的时政新闻服务，接下来可能都会面临着巨大的政策风险。当然，这也是因为，“传统意义上”不被严格管理的财经、科技类新闻都因中美关系的恶化而进入了审查的范围。

Shanghai-based digital news site Q Daily, or literally translated as Curiosity Daily (好奇心日报), issued a short note on Monday morning confirming it is downsizing editorial teams and will change course in its content publishing business, basically confirming recent rumors that the digital-born news site has been ordered to close down.

With recent crackdown on WallStreetCN and now on Q Daily, both digital-born sites that targeting a quite niche audience with contents traditionally not deemed politically sensitive, it seems a new pattern of censorship is emerging, where Chinese authorities become less and less tolerant of information coming outside official channels.

Coinciding with the gradual demise of China’s marketed media (市场化媒体) (and with them the investigative journalism) since around 2012 was a proliferating of ‘self-media’ (自媒体) on digital platforms such as WeChat and Toutiao, as well as digital-born sites or apps that provide information on technology, finance and economy, among other topics.

It is needless to say there has been an ever tightening control on what articles are allowed on these platforms, but most of the time the censors had been targeting certain articles, certain outspoken critics, or influencers who get too much influence (such as Mi Meng 咪蒙). But in most cases when a popular ‘self-media’ account was taken down, it was not difficult for the public to guess which article (or articles) possibly offended the censors. Through such a cat-and-mouse game, authors and readers learn what topics or types of articles are off-limits.

But the close down of WallStreetCN and Q Daily may suggest that Chinese authorities begin to take a two-year-old regulation on digital information more seriously.

A policy document put into effect on June 1, 2017 stipulates all online platforms that providing news service should acquire an official license — almost a mission impossible for private companies or individuals.

And by “news”, it covers wide-ranging topics including news and comments on politics, economy, military, diplomacy and other public affairs, as well as comments on breaking news events. The regulation applies not only to original news reporting but also re-posting and information disseminating. SupChina had a deep dive last year.

The all-encompassing nature makes the policy document a “Sword of Damocles” hung above hundreds of thousands of ‘self-media’ accounts and information providing apps such as WallStreetCN & Q Daily.

But in the subsequent months, few ‘self-media’ authors believed the regulation would really bite. If applied, hundreds of thousands of such accounts — including those spreading pro-government messages towards a huge number of followers — would be shutdown. So the ‘self-media’ continue to prosper, while trying hard to stay inside the red line.

The policy began to bite last year when Q Daily was ordered to suspend publishing for a month for publishing news without a license. Before the suspension, its coverage of social issues — for instance, Beijing’s mass eviction in late 2017 — won it a lot of respect and possibly a lot subscribers. (Q Daily said it started to make profit two years ago though without setting up a paywall.)

Since its operation resumed after the one-month moratorium, Q Daily seems to have refrained from publishing original news reports — rather its articles centered more on “softer” topics. A random sampling of headlines published recently include (screenshot from its Telegram channel):

• Stereotypes of age;
• gentrification’s pros and cons;
• moral aspects of smuggling;
• and Can we really end music piracy?

It’s hard to say which of the topics is particularly sensitive or offensive, yet still, Q Daily was asked to suspend publishing for another three months, during which period the publisher finally made the decision to change course in its future operation. It said it will retain a small content team but did not elaborate future plans.

Perhaps as a Chinese comment put: “curiosity is not allowed”.