China to Limit Foreign TV Shows on Streaming Sites
The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT)’s introduction of a “censor first, broadcast later” policy requiring Internet companies to employ government censors...
View ArticleNowhere to Pun Amid Crackdown on Wordplay
At the Wall Street Journal, Te-Ping Chen reports that the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT), China’s main print and broadcast regulator, has ordered...
View ArticleCCTV Anchor Faces ‘Serious’ Punishment for Mao Joke
At a private dinner party in April, star CCTV anchor Bi Fujian sang a parody of a “model opera” song in which he mocked Mao Zedong. After a cellphone video of his rendition went viral, censorship...
View ArticleForeign Media Face New Rules; State Media Echo Xi
On February 15, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television (SAPPRFT) and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology publicized new regulations that as of March...
View ArticleHow Xi Jinping is Bringing China’s Media to Heel
Last month saw signs that the steady tightening of media control under Xi Jinping’s rule will continue. On February 15, China’s top media regulator issued new rules consolidating the existing...
View ArticleNewspaper Editor Fired Over Front Page Double Meaning
An editor at the liberal Southern Metropolis Daily has been fired after the paper’s Shenzhen edition paired a banner headline of President Xi Jinping’s call for state media loyalty with a lower...
View ArticleNew TV Rules Ban “Abnormal Sexual Behavior”
At the Hong Kong Free Press, Karen Cheung reports on wide-ranging new rules that will ban content depicting homosexuality, adultery, and underage love from airing on television in China. These new...
View ArticleMedia Regulator Announces New Resolve and TV Rules
This year has seen a series of efforts by the Xi Jinping administration to strengthen the voice of the Communist Party through the media and other channels. Recently, ideological watchdogs at the...
View ArticleMedia to Push Socialist Values Over Western Lifestyles
China this week rolled out new rules on entertainment news as top lawmakers reviewed a draft of the country’s first film law. The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television...
View ArticleTech Firms Boost Censorship as Legal Challenge Proceeds
The New York Times’ Raymond Zhong reported this week on a popular news, blog, and entertainment aggregation app’s collision with authorities as its soaring user base and $30 billion valuation bring...
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Word of the Week: State of Anxiety on Radio, Film, TV
The Word of the Week comes from the Grass-Mud Horse Lexicon, a glossary of terms created by Chinese netizens and encountered in online political discussions. These are the words of China’s online...
View ArticleCaixin Removed From Cyberspace Administration of China’s “Whitelist”
One of China’s premier investigative reporting outlets, Caixin, has been removed from the Cyberspace Administration of China’s (CAC) latest media “whitelist.” The whitelist governs how news is shared...
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Minitrue: Four Leaked CAC Censorship Directives on Ukraine, Beijing Olympic...
The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. Date: March 3, 2022 Content: Implement the March 1, 2022 directive and...
View ArticleFurther Declines in Press Freedom for Hong Kong and China on World Press...
To commemorate World Press Freedom Day on May 3, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released their annual World Press Freedom Index. It was no joyous occasion for China and Hong Kong, both of which...
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Words of the Week: “Breaking in to Turn on Lights” (撬锁点灯, qiàosuǒ diǎndēng)
Earlier this month, netizens were incensed over a viral video that showed firefighters and other uniformed officers breaking into a shop in Datong, Shanxi province late at night in order to turn on the...
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