kind of a bad piece tbh. Viewing this through the lens of 'cancel culture' or 'censorship' is looking at China through a Westernized lens. Social prohibitions, shaming and cultivation of particular values have been bread and butter in China for 3000 years, it's like calling prohibitions on sexuality in an Islamic society cancel culture.<p>Secondly the more important miss is that the Economist focuses on the economic and political aspect of celebrities. There's some superficial truth to that but the party isn't afraid of the political power of internet celebs. What they completely omit in the piece is the resurgence of a nationalist, Confucian focus on cultural values and virtue, creating a particular way of Chinese life, it's not about socialist economics.<p>There's been a strong crackdown on individuals or media that promote promiscuous women 'feminine men', homosexuality, divorce and a strong focus on imposing traditional moral, not economic values.