“Block (封杀)!”: State-Netizen Constructions of Cancel Culture in China

Cancel culture in China has multiple specificities that invite further investigation, given the role of the state in producing content and regulating media platforms, alongside the distinct factors that can trigger canceling. This paper draws on social media posts, news articles, and government edicts for several illustrative cases, presenting a critical qualitative account about the involvement of ordinary media users, platforms, and state actors. State pronouncements on celebrity conduct, fan cultures, and digital media content all structure the regulatory environment, but canceling can originate as both bottom-up incidents and state-initiated events, with platform authorities also playing key roles. Whether netizens and the state reinforce each other or the government seeks to temper public anger, the cancel cases demonstrate how ideologies of nation and good citizenship are propagated and sometimes contested through user and state actions, an analysis that helps further theorize the culture and politics of digital platforms.