China intends to implement a new law that would promote patriotic education for internet users, students, and Chinese living abroad.
China intends to implement a new law that would promote patriotic education for internet users, students, and Chinese living abroad.
The National People’s Congress (NPC), the nation’s top legislative body, met on Monday and received the draught law for review, according to state news agency Xinhua. Only a few details of the law’s draft have been made public, according to reports in the state media.
According to state broadcaster CCTV, the draft law requires online content providers to improve the production and distribution of patriotic content.
Additionally, it said, new platforms, technologies, and products would need to be developed and used by online content and service providers in order to actively promote patriotism online.
According to Xinhua, passing the patriotic education law would have “great and far-reaching significance for elevating the national spirit, uniting the people’s strength, advancing the creation of a strong nation, and achieving national rejuvenation.”
Since Chinese President Xi Jinping took office and tightened the Communist Party’s control over ideological work, China’s top internet regulator has consistently pushed the use of cutting-edge media for political education while mounting ongoing campaigns to “clean up” online content that does not support Beijing’s ideological viewpoints.
China has developed a highly developed system to manage online content in order to support the legitimacy of the party. The chief internet censor advocated using online media to produce “political education”-focused content aimed at young people in March.
The primary target audience for the draft law is schoolchildren and teenagers, and China’s top propaganda department has established 585 patriotic education bases. These bases encourage patriotism by participating in events like raising the flag, singing the national anthem, and taking the pledge of allegiance. For the first time, patriotic education campaigns are centred on kids.
In 2017, when it became official party doctrine, China’s Ministry of Education started integrating the president’s political philosophy, known as Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, into the country’s school curriculum and updating textbooks.
Beijing started a new campaign in 2021 to instill party loyalty in students by mandating the teaching of more ideological material in the classroom, including the “core socialist values.”