This week, a report at IT Home described recent corporate initiatives in the fight to promote “positive energy” and suppress “malicious” negativity online. (As China Media Project explains, “’Positive energy’ has been an important phrase in the Xi Jinping era to refer to information controls and official messaging, both domestically and internationally. The term generally refers to the need for uplifting messages as opposed to critical or negative ones – and particularly the need for content that puts the Party and government in a positive light.”) CDT has translated the IT Home report—which draws heavily on the Cyberspace Administration of China’s official statements—as well as some reactions below:
October 28: Tencent Editor-in-Chief and Vice President of Public Policy Zhu Dianjun announced Tencent’s formation of a Positive Energy Algorithm Task Force at the 2025 Content Creator Carnival in Guangzhou today, Securities Times reports.
Zhu said that Tencent relies on WeChat’s unique social relationship network to enable the natural flow, based on users’ mutual trust, of high-quality content like knowledge sharing, practical skills, and emotional resonance. Not only does this make sharing quality content into a kind of “social gifting” between users, it also systemically curbs the spread of harmful information, gradually fostering a healthy ecosystem in which “the good drives out the bad.”
IT Home’s inquiries reveal that since the start of the special “Clear and Bright: Management of Common Algorithmic Issues on Online Platforms” campaign, in response to intense public concern about the dangers of algorithmic recommendations exacerbating vulgar content, “information cocoons,” and opinion polarization, the Cyberspace Administration of China has helped to oversee and guide key platforms in optimizing their recommendation algorithms and adjusting the rules by which they operate. Those key platforms have responded proactively by signing the Nanning Declaration on Algorithms for Good; improving review of algorithmically recommended content; launching dedicated pages, channels, and accounts for publicizing the principles behind algorithmic rules; developing new online functions such as “Cocoon Assessment” and “One-Click Cocoon-Buster”; optimizing services that help manage user interests and preferences; and enhancing diversity in algorithmic content recommendations.
To this end, platforms including Douyin, Xiaohongshu [RedNote], Weibo, Kuaishou, WeChat Channels, and Bilibili have systematically optimized multiple functions centered on core aspects such as weighted recommendation of positive-energy content, safeguarding users’ freedom of choice, diversifying recommended content, and increasing algorithmic transparency.
In May of this year, WeChat Channels released “An Infographic Guide to Understanding WeChat Channels’ Algorithmic Recommendations” and the series “Breaking Out of the Algorithmic Cocoon.” To facilitate breaking through “information cocoons,” it launched innovative features such as “Cocoon Assessment” and “One-Click Cocoon Buster” to help users guard against the risks of information cocoons. [Chinese]
Responses gathered from Weibo by CDT Chinese editors were more energetic than positive:
计六一六：Hahahahaha, I laughed so hard I nearly burst a hemorrhoid!
夜喏巫啼：When the algorithm detects users whose positive energy is running low, it will automatically recharge them for free.
寒月1966：If everything’s positive energy, there’s no energy at all.
大肘子哈哈：The Chinese Academy of Sciences should set up a Positive Energy Research Institute.
Beso_Grande：In future, when AI systems boot up, they won’t be allowed to connect to the negative terminal. [In an electrical circuit, current cannot flow without both a positive and a negative terminal.]
春天的小北：Racing away from civilization at hypersonic speed.
Beso_Grande：Both Red and expert.
媒体猪哥：Casting an inescapable dragnet of positive energy. [Chinese]
The emphasis on breaking through information cocoons—信息茧房 xìnxī jiǎn fáng, equivalent to “echo chamber” or “filter bubble”—might seem ironic given Chinese authorities’ devotion of vast effort and resources to cocooning the whole country’s internet. Undeterred, Beijing leveled the same accusation at Taiwan’s government in August:
A Chinese mainland spokesperson said on Wednesday that the “information cocoon” created by Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities is starting to crumble, as people in Taiwan become aware of the real mainland through the internet and social networking services.
Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, made the remarks at a press conference in response to some Taiwan media reports alleging that the mainland is using social media to “brainwash” Taiwan youth.
Zhu said that for a long time, the DPP authorities have attempted to block channels for Taiwan compatriots to learn about the mainland and mislead the public.
Thanks to internet penetration and the rapid evolution of social media, netizens on both sides of the Taiwan Strait can now access news faster, see each other’s daily lives more easily, and engage in more diverse exchanges, she said. [Source]
Amid the exodus of “TikTok refugees” to Xiaohongshu in January, a blog post by “Pingyuan Gonzi” at the nationalist-leaning Guancha argued that “The True Information Cocoon is Actually on Foreign Websites.” The piece was later translated at The China Academy, an English-language site with numerous apparent ties to Guancha and other nationalist voices:
Since Rednote is a Chinese social platform with a single database, it doesn’t distinguish between domestic and international versions, and users from any part of the world can register using their phones, creating an amusing scene where Chinese and English speakers chat animatedly on the same platform. Americans exclaimed—”This is the real free world.”
[…] Therefore, Chinese social software doesn’t need to specifically create an “international version” for foreigners; a multilingual, unrestricted communication platform is the correct path.
[…] Content-wise, the Simplified Chinese [PRC] internet hosts the most diverse, free, and inclusive content globally, almost free from “political correctness.” You can openly support Russia or Ukraine, Israel or Palestine, be anti-American or pro-American, without any interference. Which Chinese website, app, or forum isn’t buzzing with heated arguments day and night, presenting diverse perspectives, and robust logic to argue their correctness and criticize others’ mistakes? There’s no single entity dominating the discourse; various ideologies and factions coexist fascinatingly.
Regarding resource richness, logical debate skills, and content brilliance, the Chinese internet ranks number one globally. Conversely, so-called “foreign websites” are real “news bubbles.” English internet spaces are monopolized by American mainstream media, essentially regurgitating different versions of the same ideas, filled with universal value and political correctness, lacking innovation and fun. Traditional Chinese [non-PRC Sinophone] websites are saturated with outdated opinions, seemingly like a cesspool. They can’t offer an engaging experience after prolonged exposure. [Source]
Chinese authorities, it swiftly turned out, did not agree that a multilingual, unrestricted communication platform was the correct path. CDT translated a range of less triumphalist Chinese perspectives on the influx, including one Weibo user’s comment: “We all know this isn’t going to end well, so let’s enjoy this ‘global-village moment’ while we can.”
