China has launched a yearlong nationwide campaign against organized crime that, for the first time, explicitly targets a range of online activities, including “public opinion extortion” and “malicious compensation claims,” in a move critics say could further suppress online dissent and consumer complaints.
The campaign, announced by the political and legal affairs apparatus of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Aug. 2, requires internet platforms to cooperate with authorities in policing online activity, according to state media China Central Television. Officials say the initiative responds to organized crime shifting from the physical world to cyberspace and from overt violence to what they describe as “soft violence.”
However, rights advocates and independent commentators argue the expanded campaign gives authorities broader justification to silence criticism of the government by treating online speech as a public security issue. They spoke to The Epoch Times on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal.
“This is essentially about controlling public opinion and preventing ordinary people from speaking out,” a rights activist in the eastern city of Wuxi, surnamed Jiang, told The Epoch Times.
“Xi Jinping has used anti-corruption campaigns to purge officials within the Party, while this new anti-gang campaign is aimed at society,” he said. “The real objective is to eliminate critical voices and treat online expression as a source of instability.”
Online Activities Included
According to the announcement, authorities will target a broad range of internet-related offenses allegedly conducted through online platforms.
The list includes online blackmail involving explicit video chats, illegal lending and debt collection, public opinion extortion, malicious compensation claims, coercive sales practices, labor-related fraud, and sextortion schemes.
The regime said organized crime has increasingly migrated online, relying less on physical intimidation and more on digital methods that authorities characterize as “soft violence.”
An online writer from Hubei Province, surnamed Zhou, told The Epoch Times the latest campaign represents another step toward criminalizing online criticism.
“The CCP is trying to lump online criticism and consumer rights activism into the category of organized crime,” he said. “Ultimately, the goal is to give the political and legal system greater control over society and public discourse.”
China’s previous nationwide anti-gang campaign began in 2018, according to state media Xinhua News Agency. Since then, political and legal authorities have gradually broadened the types of conduct included under the initiative, adding online public opinion campaigns, malicious compensation claims, and coordinated online posting to the list of behaviors subject to investigation.
The latest campaign goes further by classifying such conduct as internet-related organized crime and a form of “soft violence,” with the Chinese regime retaining broad discretion to determine what activities fall within those categories.
A rights activist in Wuhan, surnamed Wang, told The Epoch Times the campaign selectively targets critics while ignoring abuses by the authorities themselves.
“State media talks about cracking down on local bullies and criminal gangs, but never mentions the Party’s own abuses of power,” he said. “What they call an anti-gang campaign is really about suppressing opposing voices.”
Wu Ting contributed to this report.
