Photo: VCG

Major Chinese platforms including Douyin (China's version of TikTok), WeChat, Taobao, and Kuaishou have issued announcements on their official accounts this week targeting illegal and inappropriate micro-dramas. The crackdown involves mass content removals, account suspensions and stricter content auditing, signaling heightened regulations and accountability in short-form digital storytelling.

WeChat took the lead on Wednesday, reporting the takedown of multiple mini-programs hosting micro-dramas that contained sexually suggestive content or infringed on copyright.

Douyin followed with its own announcement on Friday, stating that it removed 223 micro-dramas in April alone due to violations ranging from violent themes and vulgar content to distorted moral messaging. Several popular titles were cited as promoting harmful ideologies such as vigilante justice, extreme family conflicts and the glorification of youth misconduct. Accounts tied to such productions were taken offline.

Taobao, in a separate notice on Friday, removed 45 dramas accused of promoting unhealthy relationship models, materialism and superstitious beliefs. Kuaishou reported taking down nearly 100 dramas, many of which attempted to evade platform rules by altering names or formats — a tactic referred to as "rebranding for re-upload."

Kuaishou, another major short-video platform, also joined the enforcement push. The platform revealed on Friday it had identified a recurring tactic where producers re-upload banned content under modified titles or slightly altered formats — referred to as "disguised reuploads" or "rebranding to evade review." In response, Kuaishou not only removed the content but also sanctioned more than 60 associated accounts and submitted severely non-compliant titles to the national blacklist of micro-dramas.

This wave of enforcement follows the February policy release by China's National Radio and Television Administration, which introduced a tiered regulatory framework for micro-dramas. The directive categorizes productions into three classes — "key," "standard" and "others" — based on investment scale, thematic sensitivity and platform promotion level. It mandates that all micro-dramas must either obtain a license or complete official content registration before going online.

Under the new policy, high-profile or sensitive productions must be submitted to national-level regulators for pre-approval and post-completion review. Lower-budget or non-promoted dramas are subject to platform-level scrutiny and local broadcast authority filings. Additionally, all online series must clearly display their license or registration numbers in their opening credits.

A Beijing-based film critic, who requested to remain anonymous, told the Global Times on Sunday that the synchronized actions by top platforms reflect a turning point in China's online content governance. 

"This is a shift from reactive to proactive content moderation," he said. "We're moving away from a traffic-first model to a content-first system."

He noted that the ongoing crackdown is expected to raise the bar for online drama creators, potentially reducing the volume of sensational content while encouraging the development of higher-quality, regulation-compliant productions.

Global Times