Filling the void
There have been both positive and negative comments on the recent events. At first there was an outpouring of support for the initial measures. When celebrity gossip accounts were banned, many said that it was the right thing to do because these accounts often invaded stars' privacy or published rumors as fact. Besides, some of the information shared was excessive and misled China's youth.
A commentary published in the People's Daily back in June read that entertainment-related activities, whether they are on the Internet or not, whether they involve celebrities or not, whatever the size of the platform, "should adhere to society's mainstream values and match society's mainstream viewpoints" and that "entertainment without a core can only end up in hollowness, as an indulgence without meaning."
"It is actually a positive trend that online platforms have begun to get a sense of respect and are more regulated," said Xu Xinming, a Beijing-based lawyer who specializes in IPR.
Xu also noted that video-streaming websites could commercialize their operations by buying the copyrights of approved shows and charging users to view content.
But after shows and movies were removed from AcFun and Bilibili, controversies were aroused as people began to voice their concern that their entertainment options have been significantly reduced. Some claimed that most of the content that was removed was not even controversial.
"I'm so heartbroken I feel like I can't breathe. I won't forget all the Japanese, American, British or Thai dramas I've watched on Bilibili, they've brought me so much laughter and tears, how can they be gone in an instant?" one netizen mourned.
The situation has certainly brought a dilemma for content producers, who are trying to regain their lost audience. After the most recent crackdown on WeChat public accounts, Dushedianying and Yansubagua opened up new accounts under different names and resumed their daily updates, although some users say their content is not as bold as it once was.
Some netizens joked that since losing shows on the "A-station" (AcFun) and the "B-station" (Bilibili), one has to turn to the "C-station" - CCTV - in order to keep up to date on entertainment matters.
At the same time, there are new shows that are coming to take advantage of this void. CCTV has just announced that it's co-producing an animation series with an American company, titled Nezha and the Transformers, possibly portraying a fight between a famous character from Chinese myth and the well-known U.S. film and television franchise.
A recent news piece published by magazine Blog Weekly described the lives of some netizens after their favorite shows were taken down from AcFun and Bilibili. Most of those people label themselves "second-dimension dwellers," as they do not have much of a social life. Most of them would get off work every day and go straight home to watch shows online to relax, so in the first week or so many of these people were devastated.
But life goes on. According to Blog Weekly, Wang Lei, someone who cried instantly when she found out she couldn't watch her favorite series, went to the shopping mall and bought three skirts, a shirt and several pairs of earrings.
Tang Jian, someone who claimed he couldn't possibly find a girlfriend because of his TV-addict lifestyle indeed found a sweetheart and is planning a trip abroad in October.
Huang Ze, who has been watching animation on AcFun and Bilibili since he was in high school, has turned his attention to working out at the gym and gaming. After a few days of his new lifestyle, he suddenly realized he had not watched any live broadcasts of animations or video games, nor spent any money on virtual coins, for the entire time.
