New China Law Fines Influencers If They Discuss 'Serious' Topics Without a Degree (iol.co.za)
- Reference: 0179909296
- News link: https://slashdot.org/story/25/10/29/2223209/new-china-law-fines-influencers-if-they-discuss-serious-topics-without-a-degree
- Source link: https://iol.co.za/lifestyle/2025-10-27-china-s-new-law-only-degree-holding-influencers-can-discuss-professional-topics-netizens-divided-on-its-impact/
> China has enacted a new law regulating social media influencers, [2]requiring them to hold verified professional qualifications before posting content on sensitive topics such as medicine, law, education, and finance, IOL reported. The new law went into effect on Saturday. The regulation was introduced by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) as part of its broader effort to curb misinformation online.
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> Under the new rules, influencers must prove their expertise through recognized degrees, certifications, or licenses before discussing regulated subjects. Major platforms such as Douyin (China's TikTok), Bilibili, and Weibo are now responsible for verifying influencer credentials and ensuring that content includes clear citations, disclaimers, and transparency about sources.
A [3]separate report notes that if influencers are caught talking about the "serious" topics, they will face a fine of up to 100,000 yuan ($14,000).
[1] https://slashdot.org/~schwit1
[2] https://iol.co.za/lifestyle/2025-10-27-china-s-new-law-only-degree-holding-influencers-can-discuss-professional-topics-netizens-divided-on-its-impact/
[3] https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/new-china-law-fines-influencers-if-they-discuss-serious-topics-without-a-degree-3275991/
I feel (Score:2)
I feel liked I'm being duped here.
Re: (Score:2)
Or scroll to the bottom of the front page and read duplicate. :)
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It's new again, just like AI. Read the same post from noon. No one pays attention. Will it appear again tomorrow?
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You're wrong, we're provided a valuable opportunity to voice our opinions on the issue once more.
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A cursory glance at the social media cesspit is enough to make this action sound desirable. Spin is hardly needed.
And for the record, I'm a shill for the Republican party, as I was informed of here on Slashdot. Not a Chinese shill.
Re: Spin (Score:2)
Desirable to an extent, untilâ¦
1. You realise that thereâ(TM)sa bunch of people out there with legitimate expertise but no formal qualifications. Think, people like everyday astronaut, who has no formal engineering or rocketry education, but whose videos are always well researched and cited.
2. Politics can oh so easily become a âoeseriousâ topic. No degree from the places we approve of? No talking about how shot our policies are!
The way things are now I cant say I'm against it. (Score:4, Informative)
Misinformation is the bane of the internet age and has put us in a less than optimal situation.
So the Chinese government (Score:2, Offtopic)
Controls the schools. So they control what is taught and they control the orthodoxy around it completely. This means that by doing this they can prevent any dissenting opinions especially about things like finance and law.
This is incidentally why Trump is constantly threatening schools. Every dictator goes after the intelligencia first and keeps them completely under control at all times. Because those people are smart enough to organize opposition against you.
What's frustrating is how few people ca
Re: (Score:2)
1000% what you said.
There's been so many protests in 2024 and 2025 in China over labor and banking problems. Now, if you want to talk about how the Chinese economy is failing the working class Chinese... that's a jailing!
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I can see the appeal. It we really do have a serious problem of "Dunning-Krugers" spouting utter nonsense online with confidence and presentation that reaches a significant audience of similarly ill-educated people, convincing them to take action that is wrong and harmful. They don't think "huh, maybe I should seek out the opinions of professionals on this matter" and instead just fall back on ego-soothing anti-intellectualism and conspiracy theory nuttery. There are a lot of these people, and their ill-
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> Controls the schools. So they control what is taught and they control the orthodoxy around it completely.
but do they teach creationism?
Slashdot should take note (Score:4, Funny)
Posting an article on Slashdot should also require a degree.
People have difficulty reading, leading to double posts like this one.
TFA was posted on Slashdot already, within 24 hours:
[1]https://tech.slashdot.org/stor... [slashdot.org]
[1] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/10/29/147251/china-bars-influencers-from-discussing-professional-topics-without-relevant-degrees
Truth to power (Score:2)
Although perhaps this could be useful for flushing out [1]Korsakoff syndrome [wikipedia.org] victims.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korsakoff_syndrome
Define 'Influencer' (Score:3)
> Think back to the Covid-19 pandemic fake cures, antivax rhetoric, and pseudoscience spread like wildfire, often amplified by influencers with millions of followers but no medical background.
Or, indeed, last Tuesday -> [1]https://www.whitehouse.gov/art... [whitehouse.gov]
[1] https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/09/fact-evidence-suggests-link-between-acetaminophen-autism/
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There's the problem. If that law existed here, you know RFK and Trump would be immune.
Duplicate : https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/10/ (Score:2)
Dupes a story still on the main page!!!
Come on man!!
[1]https://tech.slashdot.org/stor... [slashdot.org]
[1] https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/10/29/147251/china-bars-influencers-from-discussing-professional-topics-without-relevant-degrees
Re: (Score:2)
I guess today's headlines just needed a double dose of anti-china scaremongering, since the original story is not even off of the first page yet.
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What if they have 0.0175 radians?
Just China, being China (Score:2)
They have no equivalent to our First Amendment. And so they restrict speech for people not deemed to be educated or certified on certain topics. Not really a bad idea, until it runs into one's right to speak. We do have restrictions on some types of commercial speech to protect the public from false "experts". We can't shut them up. But we can restrict their ability to offer services for hire in many areas. Medical, legal, engineering, investment, etc. You can say what you want in these areas. But you can't
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This is mostly a good post, thanks for posting.
Where it falls flat is your assertion that "influencers" are some kind of experts. I disagree. They're just entertainers. In court, I think they make that argument and easily win any cases you're trying to make by claiming they're purporting to be experts.
I may be wrong. That happens sometimes. It from what I can see, they're just entertainers.
Therefore (Score:2)
These people have much to lose and will carefully toe our line on these serious topics.
will dr pepper be banned? can't have that useing t (Score:2)
will dr pepper be banned? can't have that useing the DR name tag.
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I'm not going back to Mr Pepper! I CAN'T DO IT, MAN!
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It's hard to get Dr Pepper outside of the U.S., and even if you do find it, it's horribly made.
I was in Ireland and the U.K. last month. I could not find a decent bottle of Dr Pepper in either country. It was just gross. I ended up throwing a lot of it away. Totally disgusting.