You are feeling down and lack faith in the future. But don’t despair, for there is a way out of the gloom: a national campaign against pessimism!
China always takes the lead. Last week, the “Campaign Against Pessimism and Dark Voices” was launched with major newspaper headlines and cheerful advice. Behind it stands the all-powerful Communist Party, dissatisfied with the state of affairs. “Online content that encourages pessimism, hostility, and hopelessness is harmful to society,” declared a circular from the government’s internet administration.
The campaign comes at a time of economic challenges. Growth is not as expected, and youth unemployment is rising. Under such conditions, discontent spreads quickly, not least on social media, where millions speak out every day. “Even on a sunny day, it rains inside me,” wrote one young man. “I studied diligently for six years, and when I finally finished, no one wanted to hire me,” added another. “I survive only because my 82-year-old grandmother shares her pension with me,” said a third.
At a time when able-bodied youth have nothing to do, many live with their parents. Students who graduated this spring have returned to the villages they came from. Life there is as stagnant as ever. Everyone dreamed of work and stable housing, but the jobs aren’t there, and housing is far too expensive.
Over the past four years, desperate young people have circulated photos online of themselves lying on the ground like corpses. This is called tang ping—“lying flat.” “What a disgrace,” fumed a Party editor in January. “Healthy young people should not lie down in this way. They must stand up and serve the people with all their hearts!”
Three weeks ago, China celebrated the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II with a grand military parade in Beijing. The city was decorated with flags and banners, and promises of new victories filled the air. On the upcoming National Day, October 1, another celebration is scheduled. But these shows of joy cannot hide the fact that millions of Chinese feel excluded and sidelined.
Fresh statistics tell the story:
In July, unemployment among youth aged 16–24 stood at 17.8 percent. That is lower than the same time last year, when it was reported at 21.3 percent. However, the figures are not directly comparable, since students are no longer included in the count. This likely means the problem is about as bad as before.
Moreover, the numbers only cover those living in urban areas. Rural residents—around 500 million people—are not included, and unemployment there is even higher. The conclusion: China faces a massive unemployment problem.
“It must stop—the pessimistic tones we hear everywhere,” wrote the Party’s flagship paper People’s Daily. “Only by promoting joy and positivity can we strengthen national confidence!”
The Communist Party fears that negative online voices pose a threat to political stability. That is why silencing them is so important. Earlier this year, Party membership passed 100 million, but history is full of examples where a small spark overturned a heavy cart.
So what can the Party do?
No authoritarian or totalitarian country is better equipped than China to suppress its own population—except, perhaps, North Korea. For years, Chinese leaders have worked tirelessly to build a sophisticated censorship system using new technology. With the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Party now has a powerful new tool.
“We are now closing the last gaps and creating an even healthier internet universe,” said Chuang Rongwen, director of the Cyberspace Administration of China.
China has long had its own closed internet. While most of the world uses Google, Facebook, X, and other familiar platforms, the Chinese rely on their own search engines and social media. The problem has been that censorship has never managed to block every unwanted influence from outside. Nor has it managed to filter everything Chinese users share, especially not in real time. As a result, unwelcome words and images can linger online before censors catch them.
AI offers the authorities a far more effective way to monitor information flows. It can analyze vast amounts of text, images, audio, and video in real time, and algorithms can be trained to recognize sensitive content. Through “sentiment analysis,” AI can also detect shifts in public mood and quickly alert the authorities.
At the same time, AI can produce endless streams of pro-government content and start “positive” discussion threads. Such automated postings can easily drown out critical voices and create the impression of broad popular support. AI can also translate and analyze foreign media, filtering out unwanted information before it spreads.
Over the years, several Western tech companies have helped China censor the internet. Some have thankfully pulled out. But the Chinese have since developed their own expertise. Huawei, for instance, has worked with Zhejiang University in Hangzhou to develop a version of the AI model DeepSeek-R1-Safe. Its purpose is not only to filter out “all toxic speech,” but also “ambiguous speech”—anything that might fall in a gray zone.
In internal tests, the model reportedly achieved nearly 100 percent “success” in blocking what is deemed harmful information. The problem, however, arises when resourceful users invent coded words, puns, and metaphors to evade the system. It is a digital cat-and-mouse game, where creativity becomes a weapon against censorship. But can the game continue into the AI era?
Chinese campaigns tend to fade after a few months or years. The new campaign against pessimism is initially scheduled to run for two months. While the internet is tightened, millions of young Chinese will be trained in the “proper use” of it. They will also study Xi Jinping’s thought and sing songs in praise of the Party and the motherland.
No matter what Xi tries, he faces an impossible task. For even if his internet police work tirelessly, they cannot control the feelings of 1.4 billion people. Simply because the Chinese are human. Just like everyone else.
faeroevi@online.no
