Cartoons and children’s shows are next on the chopping block in China’s entertainment crackdown

The National Radio and Television Administration, the country’s broadcasting authority, announced late Friday that it would ban cartoons and other TV shows primarily produced for children that contain any mention of violence, blood, vulgarity or pornography.TV channels must “resolutely resist bad plots,” and instead only broadcast “excellent cartoons with healthy content and promote truth, goodness and beauty,” said the authority “Ultraman Tiga,” a hugely popular Japanese series about a superhero who protects Earth from monsters and aliens, was removed from online streaming platforms on Friday. State-run tabloid But their protests may be in vain. China has been signaling a crackdown on cartoons and other shows — including many produced in China — for a while.In April, authorities in Jiangsu province released a list of 21 cartoons and television dramas that could affect children’s development. The list included the well-known shows “Peppa Pig,” a British cartoon series; “My Little Pony,” an American cartoon; and “Case Closed,” also known as “Detective Conan,” a massively successful Japanese manga and anime series.Friday’s ban comes as Chinese authorities clamp down on various sectors of the entertainment industry, ranging from “idol” competition shows to K-pop fan clubs and “effeminate” male pop stars. During the government’s efforts to clean up the industry, a number of “misbehaving celebrities” have been reportedly blacklisted by broadcast authorities, according to a list that circulated on social media in August.In nearly all of the recent bans and crackdowns, Chinese officials and state media have consistently decried the supposed capitalist moral decay and Western values threatening young minds, and instead encouraged nationalism and loyalty to the ruling Chinese Communist Party among Chinese youth.For instance, on Friday, Beijing’s television and radio authority launched a training course designed to teach broadcasters and entertainment workers to make content that has a “positive influence” on the public, according to Global Times. That means discouraging materialism and vanity, it said, while spreading “correct values” such as “patriotic thinking” and “national spirit.”