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China launches crackdown on ‘vulgar’ AI-altered videos
The month-long campaign by China’s National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) agency will target AI videos that “distort, parody or vulgarise” classic Chinese films, television dramas and animated works.
NRTA’s campaign comes amid recent media reports about the growing popularity of AI-altered spoof clips. (Images: Douyin/nymsql8099, 非酋小辣椒)
4 min
02 Jan 2026 06:03PM (Updated: 02 Jan 2026 06:07PM)
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BEIJING: China has launched a month-long campaign to crack down on artificial intelligence (AI)-altered videos that “distort, parody or vulgarise” classic Chinese films, television dramas and animated works.
The special campaign, which began on Thursday (Jan 1), was launched by the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), a ministry-level agency that oversees many major Chinese television and radio entities, including state broadcaster CCTV.
Spoof clips that “misappropriate and distort Chinese culture” will be taken down, NRTA said in a statement shared on WeChat on Dec 31.
Targets include AI-generated videos based on popular Chinese works like Journey to the West and Romance of the Three Kingdoms - as well as portrayals of “exemplary Chinese heroes and figures”.
Clips containing violent, bizarre or vulgar content, as well as those promoting “wrong values” that “violate public order and good customs”, will also be taken down, NRTA said.
“With the rapid development of generative AI, some online accounts have misused these tools to make subversive changes, bizarre deconstructions and vulgar adaptations of classic Chinese films, television dramas and animations,” NRTA said, also criticising such content as “bizarre” and “vulgar”.
These videos “deviate from the core spirit of the original works”, enable copyright infringement, harm industry development and interfere with children’s cultural understanding and perception of reality, it added.
“The campaign will also clean up various forms of violent or obscene animated content that adapt characters well-known and loved by children,” NRTA said, adding that videos which distort perceptions of Chinese history and culture will also be removed, as it could “impact cultural identity”.
“The aim is to reverse the negative trend of spreading AI-altered videos and create a favourable online environment for the healthy growth of young people,” it said.
NRTA’s campaign comes amid recent media reports about the growing popularity of AI-altered spoof clips. Classic films like the 1986 television adaptation of Journey to the West and the 1987 adaptation of Dream of the Red Chamber, regularly feature in AI-generative videos.
On the popular short-video platform Douyin, one widely shared clip which has garnered more than 474,000 likes, shows the Buddha from Journey to the West holding a gun and flying a helicopter to the heavenly courts.
As part of its campaign, online platforms, which include social media apps and websites, that host videos will be required to strengthen their content review processes and remove “non-compliant” material.
Offending accounts will be penalised, NRTA said, adding that platforms must take responsibility in dealing with offending accounts.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported in December that the threshold for using generative AI tools to modify video clips is low, with many tutorials circulating on short-video platforms showing users how to create spoof content with minimal technical expertise.
The Beijing News, a state-owned newspaper, wrote in a commentary on Wednesday that such “so-called” AI adaptations may not only infringe copyright, but also undermine traditional culture.
The piece warned that vulgar spoof clips were more likely to affect minors. Such adaptations “cannot overstep boundaries” and amount to “desecrating classics and testing the public’s bottom line of acceptance and tolerance”, it said.
China is lumber one!!!
