On March 25, WeChat announced that since the beginning of the year, it had permanently banned 1,209 accounts and sanctioned more than 60,000 accounts for various violations. Alongside this tightening platform censorship, many WeChat bloggers have published articles explaining to their readers why certain of their posts were blocked or deleted, or giving advice to other WeChat users about how to avoid falling afoul of platform censors. (See previous CDT translations about a post that got the hammer due to an unruly comments section; a “positive energy” post about energy prices that was too “timely” for its own good; and a post that got scrubbed for quoting official government statistics about the birthrate.)

A recent article from WeChat account 元气自留地 (Yuanqi ziliudi, “vital allotment”) discusses the author’s success in expanding the readership and reach of their own account, and offers some advice, by turns wry and serious, about what subject matter to avoid when publishing to WeChat. The article includes two screenshots from WeChat admins enumerating the usual violations, which range from insulting China or the Chinese government, defaming heroes and martyrs, impersonating others, embedding malicious QR codes or links, or publishing “content that is misleading, exaggerated, or otherwise likely to deceive or create misunderstanding among the public.” But the author’s focus in this piece, a portion of which is translated below, is on the blurrier and often-shifting boundaries that readers might not even be aware of:

Today I want to highlight some subtler examples of content that could easily cross “red lines.” Although such content might be thought-provoking and resonate with readers, there’s no need to hurl yourself at the firing line.

1. Negative-energy content

For example, writing about declining birth rates, or encouraging people not to get married or have children: these topics run counter to what the government is promoting.

Not long ago, stand-up comedian Xiao Pa made an offhand joke about a random thought she had while she was sick, and got banned [from Weibo] for it. That’s a classic example.

We’re in no position to judge whether the ban was fair or too harsh, but it just goes to show you that certain topics, even when they appear in the context of a joke or a personal anecdote, can be easily flagged as "incitement."

But there’s no use getting angry about it. If you want to write and express yourself on this platform, you have to dance in chains.

Likewise, when discussing “negative social phenomena,” tread carefully around content that might trigger pessimism or hostility among readers.

2. Weighing in on “hot topics”

Weighing in on hot topics isn’t forbidden: you just have to be careful about how you approach it, and where you put the emphasis.

Simply aggregating information, particularly if it’s related to scandals in the entertainment world, is both risky and low-value.

You can share your own perspective on a societal hot topic, but don’t just copy and paste information. That kind of content is highly homogeneous, serves mainly to spread the story further, and platform content reviewers are likely to label it as "spreading negativity," so it’s just not worth it.

You may have heard of a well-known account called “魔XX”. [This is likely an intentionally obscured reference to the WeChat account 魔都囡 (Módūnān, “Shanghai gal”), known for its clickbait headlines, gossipy subject matter, and boisterous comments section.] It has a massive following, and its model is precisely this kind of content aggregation: every day it rehashes the previous day’s viral stories (often about societal issues or entertainment) in a chatty way, then garnishes them with some social media comments and AI-generated images.

It earns money mainly through traffic monetization. It gets penalized for violations from time to time, and has probably had several accounts banned. But like a “cunning rabbit with three burrows,” it has multiple spin-off accounts and keeps popping up again and again.

How has such a risky operation managed to survive?

Possibly because they’ve been doing this for a decade and have built up a considerable follower base. Every time they open a spin-off account, their followers seamlessly migrate to the new account (and they migrate voluntarily, not through an automated system transfer).

But one thing is certain: ordinary people can’t replicate their model.

For one thing, you’re too late to the game. For another, you don’t have that many "bullets" to waste. If your account gets banned, that means having to start over with a new I.D. and new phone number, a huge hassle.

So why not take the sensible route and write content that is healthy, safe, and genuinely valuable?

3. Government personnel appointments and dismissals, announcements of investigation results, weather forecasts, etc.

For a while, there was a whole group of personal accounts that tended to repost these officially confirmed, legitimate announcements. It was just a simple copy-paste, a quick way to drum up traffic.

But free resources often come at the highest cost. If you don’t have the proper credentials or authorization, you simply cannot publish this content, even if the information is accurate and you’ve cited the official source.

Some may say, "But I just want to help people to stay informed, I’m doing this for the benefit of the public. Where did I go wrong?"

The platform doesn’t take into account your good intentions when assigning penalties. If everyone were allowed to publish this kind of content willy-nilly, it would have an unhealthy effect on the overall content ecosystem.

A [WeChat] public account is a small personal space where many ordinary people are able to express themselves. I sincerely urge everyone to protect what you’ve built here, and stay within the rules when you write.

And if you have friends running public accounts, be sure to remind them: the easiest way to up your game is to avoid the hassle of burning through a perfectly good I.D. number and account! [Chinese]