this post was submitted on 27 Oct 2025
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China has introduced a new measure to combat misinformation, requiring influencers sharing information on sensitive topics to hold a degree in that area.

The rule, which came into effect on 25 October under the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), is reportedly aimed at reducing online misinformation and protecting social media users from potentially harmful advice or guidance.

Influencers discussing subjects such as medicine, law, education, or finance must provide proof of their expertise, whether through a professional licence or degree. Platforms including Douyin (China's version of TikTok), Bilibili, and Weibo are tasked with verifying these credentials.

The CAC has also banned advertising for medical products and services, such as health foods and supplements, in an effort to curb promotions disguised as educational content.

So you're saying I can't continue promoting dick pills that might cause people's organs to boil? alex-no-supplements

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[–] sodium_nitride@hexbear.net 111 points 6 days ago

Absolutely based.

"I’m all for free speech, but the self-proclaimed health gurus are causing so much damage and honestly need some regulation so I’m for this regulation," one user wrote. "You can’t practice medicine, psychology, physio etc, without a license, so I’m not sure why they were allowed to 'practice online' in the first place."

This user gets it.

[–] happybadger@hexbear.net 105 points 6 days ago

This is the way medical subreddits are run and I like it a lot. You prove your credentials to the mods, they're tagged next to your name, and if a thread becomes something politically/professionally relevant it's restricted to people with tags. The result is that those threads typically have good comment sections without most of the typical reddit bullshit. They aren't stuck re-justifying germ theory to a 10th century peasant with a smartphone or sorting through spam/troll comments.

[–] miz@hexbear.net 89 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (2 children)

I. NO INVESTIGATION, NO RIGHT TO SPEAK

Unless you have investigated a problem, you will be deprived of the right to speak on it. Isn't that too harsh? Not in the least. When you have not probed into a problem, into the present facts and its past history, and know nothing of its essentials, whatever you say about it will undoubtedly be nonsense. Talking nonsense solves no problems, as everyone knows, so why is it unjust to deprive you of the right to speak? Quite a few comrades always keep their eyes shut and talk nonsense, and for a Communist that is disgraceful. How can a Communist keep his eyes shut and talk nonsense?

It won't do!

It won't do!

You must investigate!

You must not talk nonsense!

[–] SwitchyandWitchy@hexbear.net 27 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

I gotta get this tattoo'd to the inside of my eyeballs istg I open my mouth too early so often

[–] RedSturgeon@hexbear.net 83 points 6 days ago (7 children)

In the future you'll have to have a degree in Marxism Leninism before you can make comments on Hexbear.

[–] PunishedWeezing@hexbear.net 28 points 6 days ago

based based based based

[–] princeofsin@hexbear.net 26 points 6 days ago

No more excuses for not reading theory

[–] Wakmrow@hexbear.net 25 points 6 days ago

Don't worry I'm in DSA so I'm qualified

[–] alexei_1917@hexbear.net 24 points 6 days ago

Tbf, once the whole world is red, leftist spaces only available to members of ML parties would probably be a good idea. Doing that to any primarily Western leftist space today, though, would immediately kill off the entire space. Because let's be real, functional party institutions and theory education is just Not A Thing in the West.

[–] DragonBallZinn@hexbear.net 21 points 6 days ago

Can I be kept around as entertainment? C’mon, we’re all libs here! bottom-speak

[–] Sasuke@hexbear.net 16 points 6 days ago

PhD in the immortal science of Posting

[–] MayoPete@hexbear.net 52 points 6 days ago

Common China W

[–] SorosFootSoldier@hexbear.net 55 points 6 days ago

Noooo a time honored tradition on the internet is pretending to be an expert to manufacture consent!!

[–] WokePalpatine@hexbear.net 49 points 6 days ago

Chinese Asmonogold with his phD in entomology.

[–] Sam@hexbear.net 43 points 6 days ago

Considering that we now know the US funded anti-vax stuff during Covid in the Phillipines (thats the one they admitted to at least), this is probably a smart move.

[–] LeeeroooyJeeenkiiins@hexbear.net 48 points 6 days ago (4 children)

I'm really torn here between "this is unbelievably based and would do incalculable good if applied worldwide, and in fact if this were done in the U.S. 20 years ago we'd be living in an entirely different future" and being big butt mad because I have a lot of opinions and hate being shut up. Also even though i'm just a biology degree dropout that doesn't mean I know nothin, yknow

[–] NephewAlphaBravo@hexbear.net 50 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

i'm not sure how much of a difference it would make over here, given that higher education is expensive you'd just see a different, nerdier flavor of bougie propaganda

also the fact that college is liberal (No No The Other Liberal) indoctrination

[–] SexUnderSocialism@hexbear.net 44 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

I don't think this new measure exists to shut up regular folks and not allow them to have an opinion on something. This is clearly targeted at people with large followings who claim to be experts or gurus. Influencers.

[–] TheWolfOfSouthEnd@lemmygrad.ml 17 points 6 days ago (2 children)

At what point do you crossover from “regular folk” to “influencer”?

[–] Dragonstaff@leminal.space 20 points 6 days ago

I think reasonable people will disagree about what point that is, but it doesn't seem reasonable to suggest that the point doesn't exist.

[–] PunishedWeezing@hexbear.net 20 points 6 days ago

1,000 followers

[–] Corridor8031@lemmy.ml 17 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

are you an influencer tho? i mean it says influencers not everyone, or is this just marketing

I like to think I influence with my powerful posts

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[–] sisatici@hexbear.net 41 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

one of the biggest advantages of china over uSSa is that they don't have such rampant anti intellectualism. imagine being elitist while being anti intellectual.

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[–] mayakovsky@hexbear.net 37 points 6 days ago

First they came for the antivaxxers, and everyone clapped

[–] Midnight_Pearl@hexbear.net 42 points 6 days ago (2 children)

"I don't know how so many see this as a good thing, like this is blatant silencing of the common man, basically saying 'you’re just a regular person working a regular job, you have no say in what goes on in society.'"

well let's see: if you're a regular person working a regular job in china, you have access to their insanely cheap higher education. alternatively, if a regular person working a regular job in china wants to get involved with what goes on in society directly (making medical disinformation slop doesn't do that), they can join the CPC because china is an actually-functioning democracy where anyone can contribute if they're willing to put in the effort.

[–] purpleworm@hexbear.net 15 points 6 days ago

Also if this is only about influencers, then most of "the common man" can still talk bullshit unimpreached anyway

[–] MayoPete@hexbear.net 14 points 6 days ago (3 children)

"But we don't get to directly vote for President" frothingfash

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[–] kristina@hexbear.net 35 points 6 days ago

they previously fined people, love to see them tightening it further

[–] Infamousblt@hexbear.net 31 points 6 days ago
[–] john_brown@hexbear.net 32 points 6 days ago (1 children)

frothingfash it's not freedom if a dropout can't be considered equal to a virologist in the marketplace of ideas

[–] Dragonstaff@leminal.space 14 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Whoever came up with the "marketplace of ideas" thing never accounted for people who profit from an idea pushing it with all sorts of marketing tactics.

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[–] Comrade_Mushroom@hexbear.net 30 points 6 days ago

very cool and also very good

[–] BadTakesHaver@hexbear.net 28 points 6 days ago

Imagine if the GamerGate movement required you to have a degree in journalism before shitstirring about "ethics in video game journalism". so much harm would have been prevented if this was a widespread policy 30 years ago

[–] ClassIsOver@hexbear.net 25 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

This very much seems like the sort of regulation that butthurt Republicans would get mad about in the same way that they get mad they don't have the "freedom" to dump industrial waste into rivers or abide by consumer protection laws, as if either of those things inhibit their daily life negatively at all.

The only thing this would actually do is to prevent assholes from trumpeting dumb shit as "facts" so people with too little time to factcheck things themselves will believe them.

[–] micnd90@hexbear.net 24 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Thankfully I have a B.S. degree in Math

In this video, we will wildly speculate about GRRM's writing speed, how many pages can he write per day, and when we can expect The Winds of Winter to come out.

[–] Belly_Beanis@hexbear.net 14 points 6 days ago (1 children)

There's a new series coming out for Song of Ice and Fire. George will literally write anything that isn't Winds of Winter.

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[–] vegeta1@hexbear.net 24 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

What they don't want their own version of joe rogan platforming absolute snake oil salesmans and proliferating stupid ideas into mainstream? Unfortunately a sizable amount of people push such ideas even with degrees in that field but it doesn't help when unqualified grifters back them by the dozens with huge following.

[–] Carl@hexbear.net 23 points 6 days ago

What's this? A whiff of sensible mass media policy? A government that takes responsibility for things besides what the corporations demand they take responsibility for? Must be the evil authoritarian anti first amendment seeseepee.

[–] femur@lemmy.ml 11 points 6 days ago

This would simply be impossible to replicate in the west, for the straight forward reason that trust in the government is so incredibly low.

[–] dragongloss@hexbear.net 18 points 6 days ago

What do you mean I can't just call myself Dr. Feelmorebad and sell vitamins like Vitamin-W(oe) to cure the woe in your heart? The other docs only go to Vitamin K, Dr. Feelmorebad goes all the way to W! For the Win! And Beyond!

[–] JoeByeThen@hexbear.net 18 points 6 days ago

That won't stop it completely but that's a pretty awesome.

[–] nothx@hexbear.net 13 points 6 days ago

rage-cry

That’s so evil. Won’t China take into consideration how harmful this is to these young entrepreneurs?

[–] himeneko@hexbear.net 10 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

i dont like this idea personally specifically because it means you need to do a degree to give any advice on hrt, and endocrinologists are comically cringe when it comes to studying optimal doses for transition. seems like generally a good thing outside of trying to communicate understudied stuff, though.

[–] Awoo@hexbear.net 27 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (3 children)

Random internet commenters and forums are not "influencers". This applies to people building a brand as video personalities, not to random conversation between individuals. If it applied to forum discussion nobody would be able to talk about personal health experiences or offer one another support for health related problems at all.

It's easy to class identify this, influencers are petty bourgoeiosie (or aspire to be) building brands to seek profit while everyone that isn't an influencer is just working class.

[–] PorkrollPosadist@hexbear.net 27 points 6 days ago (1 children)

This policy is misguided. China could simply pass a law against being wrong on the internet.

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[–] PKMKII@hexbear.net 10 points 6 days ago

The only one I’m a bit weary on is education. If that’s strictly for discussion of pedagogical methods, then fine. But not if it’s a blanket to cover anything that could potentially be taught in school.

As far as who’s an influencer and who’s not: it’s like porn, I know it when I see it.

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