Overview

• On July 20, Zhejiang province’s publicity department published guidelines warning that some online stand-up routines had ‘deviated from humour’ by simplifying gender issues into oppositions between men and women.
• Officials cautioned that securing clicks does not equal having value and advised comedians to explore the social roots of male confidence and the impact of consumerism on women in their material.
• Although no programmes were named, the advisory was understood to refer to the latest seasons of iQIYI’s King of Comedy and Tencent Video’s Rock and Roast.
• Fan Chunli’s viral set about her abusive marriage on King of Comedy, which drew standing ovations, was a key trigger for the warning and rekindled debate over acceptable gender discourse.
• The announcement has drawn mixed reactions online, with some users decrying censorship of women’s perspectives and others supporting calls for more nuanced discussions.