The Chinese Communist Party is ramping up their censorship measures, mostly in due part to Hong Kong protestor and activist Joshua Wong using Animal Crossing: New Horizons to inform those in mainland China about the efforts to free Hong Kong and promote liberation from the CCP.

According to Taiwan News, they’re reporting that the Chinese State Party is enforcing regional prohibitions on those living in the mainland from connecting with or interacting with gamers outside of China.

Typically, many MMOs and online-based multiplayer games allow Chinese gamers in the mainland to connect with foreigners beyond the Great Firewall that typically restricts Chinese users from accessing content typically available to the rest of the world.

The State Party wants this to change, given that copies of Animal Crossing: new Horizons sold through the gray market were being accessed by those in the mainland to play with and connect with gamers around the rest of the world, exposing them to custom content and creations made by other people, which included online activism for the Hong Kong liberation movement.

Animal Crossing is Fast Becoming a New Way for Hong Kong Protesters to Fight for Democracy! The #Covid_19 pandemic has halted public demonstrations, so protesters are taking their cause to #AnimalCrossing.https://t.co/A599kjlYsV

(This is my island!) pic.twitter.com/vjBhzw1nUa

— Joshua Wong 黃之鋒 (@joshuawongcf) April 2, 2020

Animal Crossing as later dropped from outlets in the mainland China, preventing people from purchasing the game.

The article also mentions that the CCP is mandating curfews for those under 18 from 10:00pm to 8:00am, restricting access to gaming for minors, which is similar to what Tencent already has in place for their titles.

The issue was also covered by TheQuartering, who made a video about the censorship on Bitchute.

TweakTown also listed some of the additional changes being implemented at the State level, which will be filtered through the new software curation board that China has setup, preventing games from containing the following kinds of content:

• Zombies
• Plagues
• Map Editing
• Role Playing
• Organizing union/clan

These changes and implementations will reportedly be overseen by increased surveillance to ensure that the rules are enforced.

(Thanks for the news tips Guardian EvaUnit02 and Doug)