China’s internet censors are removing online forums promoting the “lying flat” movement, involving Chinese millennials quitting jobs in protest of the government-promoted work-hard lifestyle.
Chinese residents have previously protested against the prevalent 996 culture, which means working from 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week.
According to the Hindustan Times, internet censors in China are cracking down on the “tangping” (which translates to lying flat) movement. The crackdown saw the removal of a group on popular platform Douban, which had over 9,000 members.
The internet regulator also censored posts on another tangping group with over 200,000 members, according to a report in the New York Times.
The NYT added that the online watchdog also ordered platforms to “strictly restrict” posts promoting tangping.
The tangping movement was started in April by 31-year-old Luo Huazhong, after he published a blog post titled “Lying Flat is Justice.”
“I have been chilling. I don’t feel like there’s anything wrong,” Luo said.
According to the Hindustan Times, Luo quit his position as a factory worker, and biked 1,300 miles from the province of Sichuan to Tibet to start a new life, depending on his $60 per month worth of savings and odd jobs.
His idea about “lying flat” was applauded by many millennials and it soon went viral. Supporters showed “their approval of the concept (tangping) by sharing pictures of themselves lying flat,” according to a Tuesday report by IBT. “In a poll on Weibo (Chinese version of Twitter) reportedly, more than 60 percent of the 240,000 respondents said that tangping was their idea of a good life. Messages with hashtags tangping have attracted about 200 [million] views.”
