China’s National Radio and Hizoban Higasa no onnaTelevision Administration has required short web dramas must submit to censorship before airing in online platforms, in a strict new regulation targeting the popular content format. Dramas that have not been filed are prohibited from distribution from June. 1, according to local media agency Caixin. Data from third-party data analysis platform iiMedia Research shows the market for short online dramas almost reached RMB 40 billion last year, and is expected to land RMB 100 billion a year by 2027. Months before the new rule was introduced, more than 25,000 of China’s short online shows were removed from public channels for reasons of violent or sexual content. [Caixin, in Chinese]
