According to Forbes, China’s internet regulator has rolled out sweeping new rules requiring anyone giving professional advice online to prove their credentials or risk losing their platform. The Cyberspace Administration of China is targeting content creators discussing medicine, law, finance, education and other specialized areas across platforms with over a billion active users. These influencers must now display verified badges showing legitimate degrees or official qualifications. The policy directly addresses what China sees as a crisis of misinformation from self-proclaimed experts. This represents one of the most aggressive government interventions into the influencer economy to date.
The trust vs control dilemma
Here’s the thing about China‘s approach: on one hand, it’s addressing a very real problem. We’ve all seen those finance “gurus” with zero qualifications telling people how to invest their life savings, or wellness influencers pushing questionable supplements. The internet has absolutely democratized misinformation alongside expertise.
But there’s a massive control element here that can’t be ignored. China isn’t just saying “be more careful” – they’re creating a licensing system for online speech. That’s unprecedented in scale. And while it might clean up some of the worst offenders, it also gives the government tremendous power over who gets to speak authoritatively about important topics.
Could this work elsewhere?
Basically, no. China’s top-down regulatory structure makes this feasible in ways that would be impossible in most democracies. Imagine trying to implement this in the US with our First Amendment protections. The lawsuits would be endless.
But the underlying problem does transcend political systems. When platforms reward engagement over accuracy, compelling nonsense often outperforms boring truth. We’ve seen this with vaccine misinformation, financial scams, and health conspiracies. So while China’s solution might be too heavy-handed for Western democracies, the problem they’re trying to solve is very real everywhere.
The enforcement nightmare
Now here’s where it gets really tricky. Even if we set aside the free speech concerns, can China actually enforce this? We’re talking about platforms with hundreds of millions of daily users generating endless content. The scale is mind-boggling.
And then there’s the deepfake problem. As the article points out, it’s becoming terrifyingly easy to create AI-generated “experts” who look and sound completely legitimate. What stops someone from creating a deepfake of a credentialed doctor and bypassing the entire system? The verification process might just create a false sense of security while the most sophisticated bad actors find workarounds.
Bigger than influencers
This isn’t really just about cleaning up influencer content. It’s part of China’s broader effort to professionalize and control its digital ecosystem. They’ve been doing this across multiple sectors – from industrial technology to education to finance. The pattern is consistent: identify a rapidly growing digital space, then bring it under regulatory oversight.
What makes this particular move so significant is that it’s happening in the attention economy. They’re not just regulating products or services – they’re regulating influence itself. And that’s a frontier every government is watching closely, even if they’d never admit it publicly.
The experiment begins
So we’re about to witness a massive real-world experiment. Can you impose professional standards on an ecosystem built around viral content and personality-driven influence? Will credentialing kill creativity, or just redirect it?
My bet is we’ll see both outcomes. Some sectors might actually benefit from more verified expertise – think medical or financial advice. But other areas will likely see creators migrate to less regulated platforms or find creative ways to work around the rules. Either way, policymakers everywhere will be watching closely. Because love it or hate it, China is testing a solution to a problem that’s plaguing every digital society.
