SCP and the CCP

by Harmony B

The Communist Party of China has a bee in its bonnet. That bee, is SCP. While internet denizens inside of the People’s Republic of China have been trying to read their favorite purveyor of containment fiction, their government has been equally dedicated to making sure none of its influence reaches them.

The Chinese-language group of SCP-format containment fiction writers is second only to the English-speaking branch in terms of size and scope. Due to the restricting influence of the ruling Chinese government, a lot of their potential influence on outside confic communities is being redirected insularly, making a self-reinforcing virtuous cycle increasing interest and activity within its own space. Having a potential population of internet users drawn from the most populous advanced and developed country in the world probably doesn’t hurt their growth potential.

Despite these factors working in their favor, there have been numerous stumbling blocks placed by the government and Chinese society which has been damaging to the SCP-CN community’s ability to grow and develop. Previously, mentioning the SCP Foundation has been banned from Chinese social media outlets such as Bilibili. While it is possible to still find some SCP content browsing their website from the West, it has nothing on it now compared to what was there before the government cracked down on it in the late 2010’s.

A lot of this has been driven by moral-panic styled fear mongering from Chinese parents who do not like the time and energy their children are investing in something they do not understand. Many SCP writers in other regions have faced similar parental interference, but few of them have had to contend with the government of a Superpower scrutinizing them as a result.

The staff members of SCP-CN have been managing to continue their efforts due to being based in Hong Kong, which as of 2022 is acting still as an avenue through which Chinese confic writers can continue engaging with their Western counterparts.

The SCP Foundation is not one of the Communist Party’s highest priorities. More likely than not, it doesn’t even fall inside their top ten. The heavy-handed and somewhat ineffective nature of their censorship efforts shows that the CCP doesn’t see SCP as anything special, probably not even really knowing it by name. It is just one more instance of something to censor. As far as representing an authoritarian’s attitude, it is unfortunately pretty typical.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SCP/comments/n08ppy/beijing_authorities_are_taking_down_scp_videos/

https://archive.is/TjAsL

https://archive.is/TjAsL