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Chinese Censors Announce Tighter Controls on Online Video Content
A Chinese broadcasting regulator ordered that all websites in China must censor and prescreen all videos before they are made public in a new move clamping down harder on Internet users’ freedom of expression. Analysts suggest that the move may have been meant to stymie the online distribution of short videos made with handheld devices, or short documentary films on sensitive political issues.
The State Internet Information Office and State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT) issued the decree earlier this week, saying that Chinese video hosting services, including the highly popular Youku website, will be liable if they fail in censoring themselves.
In a written response to Chinese reporters, the broadcasting regulator said that censorship is necessary to curb “vulgar content.”
Observers see it more as a question of political control, however. The Register says that since few details were given, the authorities are effectively allowed to “stamp out anything they don’t like the look of,” which could include videos that ridicule the ruling Chinese Communist Party, or touch on other topics considered politically sensitive.
Censorship of videos is already common practice in China, but the requirement that content be strictly screened before it is published will mean that video websites have to work harder to stay within propaganda guidelines.
David Bandurski, an analyst of Chinese media at the University of Hong Kong, wrote in an analysis online that the SARFT’s calls for videos to “adhere to correct guidance,” is a “lynchpin propaganda policy that suggests control of not just vulgar or indecent content, but also of content that in the broadest sense goes against the policies, aims or ‘spirit’ of the ruling Party.”
He said that the move could be aimed particularly at blocking the distribution of “micro films”—or short documentaries—compiled from footage taken with mobile devices.
“Further, the regulations explicitly hold distributors of online video programming responsible for violations of propaganda discipline,” he wrote.
Youku, the most-visited video site, told the BBC that it would hardly be affected because it employs hundreds of people who check videos.
“If it is anti-party and anti-society, it definitely will not pass. No website will allow such content,” a spokesperson said, which further suggests that the SARFT will want other video sites to censor anti-CCP videos.
Netizens in postings on the popular Sina Weibo microblogging platform panned SARFT’s announcement before searches on the topic were censored.
One user said, “You control everything, but manage nothing well!” according to Bandurski’s blog. Another said, “We should let these guys handle the problem of food safety,” referring to the string of food scandals to hit Chinese companies over the years.
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