Commercialising potential as a critical factor of differential media management: a cultural zoning study of China’s regulation of mukbang and online eating disorder communities

Abstract

This article contributes to research on China’s (differential) media regulations by studying China’s management of mukbang and online eating disorder communities, both of which feature binge eating in varying media forms. China tolerates the former insofar as the content is modulated and monetised but has completely eradicated the latter. This research draws on Luzhou Li’s cultural zoning to address China’s differential regulations that expedite media products’ monetisation while upholding the Party’s socialist legacy. The article demonstrates commercialising potential in participants’ capacity and willingness to be monetised and absorbed by the internet industry and argues that this is a critical factor contributing to China’s differential governance of the two media forms. The research adds nuances to China’s internet and censorship research by highlighting the multiplexity and adaptivity of China’s censorship with new cases.