China removes 241,000 mislabeled short videos in 2 months

China's top internet regulator announced on Friday that more than 241,000 short videos violating labeling rules have been removed from major platforms over the past two months, while more than 21,000 online accounts have been penalized.

More than 1.27 million mislabeled or unlabeled short videos have been corrected and supplemented with proper labels, according to the Cyberspace Administration of China. In addition, some small and medium-sized platforms that failed to strictly enforce labeling requirements were summoned for regulatory interviews.

The enforcement efforts are part of a nationwide campaign launched in May to strengthen inspections and impose tougher penalties on accounts posting fictional, staged or improperly labeled content.

The campaign was prompted by the rapid growth of the short-video industry. While content has become richer and more diverse, it has also seen a surge in dramatized skits, promotional clips, AI-generated material, personal opinions and reposted content — much of it difficult to verify. In some cases, videos have been deliberately fabricated to mislead the public and disrupt social order, according to the administration.

Under current regulations, there are six labeling categories: "fictional or performative content", "AI-generated content", "marketing information", "reposted content", "personal views" and "no labeling required", with the last category intended for authentic daily-life recordings which may be selected by uploaders but does not appear on the public-facing video page.

Since introducing the rules, the administration has stepped up inspections and urged online platforms to strengthen their own content review mechanisms.

On Friday, the administration also released several representative cases. In one example, video of staged scenarios such as "a disabled wife falling pregnant again" and "a critically ill child seeking donations", exploiting images of people with disabilities to manipulate public sympathy without the required labels. The accounts involved were subsequently shut down.