“Voting on these programs is very popular, just like all social media. On the train you constantly hear the ping and vibration of phone alerts.

“It was said at the time that voting was the reason why Super Girl ended, but I don’t know if that is the government’s real concern. It allows democratic voting – although only at the lowest, village, level.”

Madeline Earp a research fellow at Freedom House, an independent civil liberties watchdog, said SARFT had often targeted popular entertainment shows in the past.

“In 2012 it was Korean and Japanese dramas that were extremely popular. They say that they want to increase diversity of programming, to improve the moral tone. But I think they’ve identified that since satellite TV has become more popular in China, the media has become more diverse. This is a real threat to the state media and CCTV, so they are trying to manipulate what is available during prime-time programming…. So it’s a control mechanism.”

She added that banning programs had backfired in the past.

“There has been a very critical response to these measures, but even in news outlets that are affiliated with the state,” she said.

“It makes (the party) look bad. It makes them look out of touch. The more they do this type of thing the more people will realize quite how far reaching state control of information is and the more likely they are to look for ways around it.”

NBC News' Li Tian, Alastair Jamieson and Henry Austin contributed to this story.