Category Archives: Censorship

China's Great Firewall of Internet censorship has become household knowledge in recent years, but the extent to which the country controls all forms of media is less well known. It has, however, become a huge headache for Hollywood lately, as movie studios struggle to break in to the world's second largest film market. It's a struggle because every single film bound for Chinese theaters has to make it pastChina's all-powerful State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) whose guidelines for what is and isn't acceptable is more or less subjective and entirely unpredictable. All the studios can do is hire consultants who are familiar with the ins and outs of censorship in China and hope for the best. But even after a script is approved and the film is shot and edited, SARFT can swoop in and block the film for any reason.

RELATED: Words China Won't Let You Use on the Anniversary of Tiananmen Square

That's exactly what happened to director Rob Cohen, who explained the travails of working with China's censors to The New York Times in a story set to hit the paper's front page on Tuesday. One of Cohen's recent films isThe Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor -- we didn't realize they were still making The Mummy series either but whatever -- which was filmed in China in 2007 after the country's censorship bureau had approved the script. However, after watching the film, Cohen says that the censors landed on a problem that the filmmakers "didn't have any way of seeing, or any way of fixing." Cohen put it bluntly: "White Westerners were saving China." Although the film was approved, Cohen says its release was delayed until after it had been seen by everyone else in the world.

RELATED: House Arrest Hasn't Kept Ai Weiwei from Doing What He Does Best

Bringing in consultants does help movie studios frame projects in a censor-friendly manner, but after filming begins the filmmakers have to be very careful not to deviate from the plan. As Cohen explained, SARFT sends spies to the set to make sure everything is going as planned."There were points where we were shooting with a crew of 500 people," said Cohen. "I'm not sure who was who or what, but knowing the way the system works, it's completely clear that had we deviated from the script, it would not have gone unnoticed." This is even more believable when you realize that China has tens of thousands of volunteer spies, monitoring the Internet and helping to identify which sites should be blocked.

RELATED: The Good, the Bad, and the Fuzzy of Twitter's New Censorship Rules

Like we said, any little detail can be cause for blocking a movie. InThe Karate Kid, SARFT didn't like the fact that the villain was Chinese so the filmmakers had to change the story to make it acceptable. They took issue withKung Fu Panda simply because the main character was a nationally treasured animal. Censors ordered nearly 15 minutes of footage to be cut fromMen in Black 3 because the movie referred to Chinese censorship. God forbid the Chinese people find out that their government is controlling.

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Hollywood Now Needs Censorship Consultants in China

Black Ops 2: Censorship on YouTube
I plan on doing a full in-depth rant on this subject soon. Leave a #39;like #39;! Let me know if you like short or long commentaries more. This was kind of a test to see if I can jam a topic into just a few minutes. Did I do okay? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow me on Twitter - twitter.com Outro music I have written permission to use - "The Clockmaker" by Vexare Check out the shop (under construction) - http://www.doingitforher.spreadshirt.com

By: SFAVerdi

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Black Ops 2: Censorship on YouTube - Video

Censorship Fuck up Anime
Tell me what you think and hate of the anime censorship and what was the worst anime censorship?

By: Anim3CITY

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Censorship Fuck up Anime - Video

The way Chinas leaders contained a rights row that saw rare protests against censorship shows there is no consensus for rapid change, analysts say, despite rising calls for press freedom and other reforms. Since Chinas president-in-waiting, Xi Jinping, was installed as the new Communist chief in November, authorities have proclaimed themes of better serving the people, respecting rights and clamping down on corruption. But the governments handling of the rare public dispute a tangible early test for Xi suggested radical change is some way off. The row flared after the liberal Southern Weekly newspaper had an editorial urging greater protection for liberties replaced with one praising the ruling party. Angered by what they saw as heavy-handed censorship, demonstrators took to the streets with others speaking out in Chinas increasingly vocal online community. A deal between staff and officials, reportedly on the basis that there would be no direct interference in content before publication, saw the paper come out on Thursday as scheduled, as police removed demonstrators from the scene. Reports said Hu Chunhua, a rising star in the Communist Party and its top official in Guangdong province, where the paper is based, had stepped in to mediate. David Goodman, a professor of Chinese politics at the University of Sydney, saw the accommodation of protests and the quiet defusing of the situation as signs that leaders themselves were divided over how much leeway to allow. People dont normally go around protesting in China like that without some level of high-level support, he said. Both camps will have instructed their people who were at the front line in the situation to back off, he said. There are people who dont want change and people who do want change. Such challenges to the government were likely to continue, said Willy Lam, a politics expert at Chinese University of Hong Kong. I think people are not so naive to believe that Xi Jinping is really serious about abiding by the constitution and so forth because that would mean freedom of expression, he said. But I think they want this to be a challenge to Xi Jinping because he has in a high-profile manner committed himself to respecting and abiding by the constitution. During the row Chinas major web portals reprinted a hard-line official editorial critical of the Southern Weekly but distanced themselves from the content, while the publisher of the Beijing News reportedly threatened to quit. Lam said the display of press solidarity, buttressed by a show of force on Chinas Twitter-like weibos, indicated such challenges would arise again. First of all there is a nationwide community of journalists who are willing and brave enough to offer support to each other. And secondly there is this potent weapon of Weibo which enables public intellectuals (and) legal scholars to beat the censorship, Lam said.

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Censorship dispute shows China’s tight grip on media

censorship and gaming.
kotaku.com http://www.igda.org kotaku.com this is wasteful and absurd.

By: Octaviou Rex

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censorship and gaming. - Video

Celebrities Targeted in Censorship Crackdown mdash;NTD China News, January 11, 2013
In today #39;s NTD China News, China and Japan play cat and mouse with fighter jets over the disputed Diaoyu, aka Senkaku, Islands. Chinese authorities have turned on celebrities to silence anti-censorship protests. Taiwanese actress Annie Yi is among those who were "invited to tea" with police. The term is a code for being called in for questioning. At least 42 people died in a landslide in Yunnan province. Dozens more were buried. Human rights abuses aren #39;t the only problem with China #39;s labor camp system, the massive amounts of money spent on operating it is also drawing attention. Senior Chinese official Yu Zhengsheng has reiterated the Chinese regime #39;s stance on the "Dalai Lama clique". Yu #39;s speech in Sichuan province this week indicates the regime will not let up in its suppression of the Tibetans. The cold spell in China has pushed up the prices of food, driving up inflation in December to 2.5% more than a year ago. As Chinese residents around the country experience record breaking low temperatures, some are finding some unexpected inconveniences like slow charging iPads. New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts impress audiences in Quebec, Canada, with its sellout performances showcasing China #39;s 5000 years of divinely inspired culture.

By: NTDonChina

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Celebrities Targeted in Censorship Crackdown—NTD China News, January 11, 2013 - Video

As the proverbial smoke clears from the battlefield where journalists from the feisty Southern Weekend newspaper fought government censors this week, the reporters victory seems to have yielded only meager gains.

Staffers at the weekly, based in the southern city of Guangzhou, won a pledge that their paper will no longer be subjected to prior censorship, according to sources close to negotiations. Instead, the authorities will rely on reporters and editors to censor themselves, as they had traditionally done.

This was not an ambitious aim, says Yan Lieshan, Southern Weekends associate chief editor until he retired a year ago. It was the most limited, most practical goal.

Still, the journalistic rebellion, which involved strike threats, represents progress, because the staff did stand up and fight against censorship, says Mr. Yan in a telephone interview.

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I dont think censorship will disappear or become less important in [the governments] management of the media, adds Gong Wenxiang, professor of Journalism at Peking University. But the openness of this conflict was new and significant.

Staff at Southern Weekend, an independent-minded weekly that in the past has been more critical of the government than most Chinese media, erupted when they found that a New Years editorial in last weeks edition, hoping for firmer rule of law in China, had been mangled on the censors orders, and its meaning traduced. Some threatened to strike.

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The dispute spread rapidly, even as the authorities sought to keep a lid on it. Supporters of the paper gathered to demonstrate outside its Guangzhou editorial offices, celebrities and other newspapers expressed their sympathy with the weekly, and the state-run tabloid Global Times drew widespread scorn on blogging platforms for an editorial blaming foreign forces for stirring unrest at Southern Weekend.

The Central Propaganda Department, the branch of the ruling Communist Party that controls the Chinese media, demanded that the countrys largest and most important newspapers and websites reprint the Global Times editorial. Most did, though they added their own disclaimers; one Beijing paper refused to print the article, but its editors finally bowed to government pressure a day later.

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Chinese reporters say censorship leaves them 'dancing in handcuffs'

China's new Communist Party leaders want to appear more open, but they're not about to give up control of the media. That's the lesson of a dustup involving an influential newspaper whose staff briefly rebelled against especially heavy-handed censorship.

The staff of Southern Weekly returned to work after some controls were relaxed, but public demands for the ouster of the top censor were ignored. Some observers took solace in the fact that no journalists were punished at least not yet.

"The fact that no one is being immediately punished is a victory. That is not insignificant," said Steve Tsang, a China politics expert at the University of Nottingham in Britain. "It's a smart use of the party's power but it's not actually making any compromise in terms of the basic fundamental principles of the party staying fully in control on anything that really matters."

China's new leader, Xi Jinping, has raised reformist hopes and struck an especially populist note in vowing to tackle official corruption. In an early December speech he praised China's constitution and said people's rights must be respected, comments that helped set the stage for the censorship clash.

The constitution grants Chinese many rights, including freedom of speech and of the press, but it is often ignored. Many in China interpret the constitution as limiting the power of the ruling Communist Party.

AP

"No organization or individual has the special right to overstep the constitution and law, and any violation of the constitution and the law must be investigated," Xi said. Many media commentators viewed his remarks as an opportunity to push for the rule of law the party has long promised but failed to deliver.

The staff at the Southern Weekly newspaper in Guangzhou a southern city known for freewheeling commerce, political boldness and year-round flowers joined the fray with a New Year's editorial extolling adherence to the constitution as the new Chinese dream.

Journalists say the provincial censor morphed the item into a piece praising the party and did so without running it by the editorial department. That violated an unwritten rule in the way censorship normally is carried out.

For three days, hundreds of supporters gathered in front of the newspaper offices on sidewalks scented with osthmanthus blossoms to shout for greater press freedom and wave banners. One man wrapped himself in newspaper to show his solidarity. But the dispute also drew political conservatives who called the newspaper's journalists "traitors" and "running dogs."

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Censorship Row Shows China's Tight Grip on Media

The Truth About Alex Jones #39; Dishonesty and Censorship Glenn Canady 9Jan2013
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND GIVE A THUMBS UP! If you #39;re reading this at guerillamedia.co.nz click "Original Article" for the video. Subscribe for $5 a month for commercial free archives and exclusive uninterrupted video interviews! (or just use it free!) Full Audio Archives here: http://www.thevinnyeastwoodshow.com For Blushield products that protect you from wireless radiation click here: http://www.thevinnyeastwoodshow.com Please buy a dvd! http://www.thevinnyeastwoodshow.com Watch this video and please share it around! Listen to the whole show here: http://www.americanfreedomradio.com Contact Vinny http Follow Vinny on FASCBOOK http://www.facebook.com on TWATTER twitter.com You Genics http://www.youtube.com http://www.americanfreedomradio.com #8234;http #8234;www.thevinnyeastwoodshow.com #8236; #8234;http

By: MRNEWSguerillamedia

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The Truth About Alex Jones' Dishonesty and Censorship Glenn Canady 9Jan2013 - Video

Chinese newspaper at center of censorship row back in print. Jan10, 2013.
News for China paper Aljazeera.com China paper at center of censorship row back in print Taipei Times lrm;- 5 hours ago A Chinese newspaper at the center of protests over censorship yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party #39;s (CCP) regulation of the ... China paper prints first issue since dispute Aljazeera.com lrm; - 14 hours ago Censors kept busy as strike-hit Chinese paper hits newsstands Reuters India lrm; - 11 hours ago China Paper / China Forest 2013 http://www.chinapaperexpo.cn/ #31532; #20108; #21313; #19968; #23626; #20013; #22269; #22269; #38469; #32440; #27974; #36896; #32440; #12289; #26519; #19994; #23637; #35272; #20250; #21450; #20250; #35758;" #23558; #20110;2013 #24180;9 #26376;2-4 #26085; #22312; #21271; #20140; bull; #20013; #22269; #22269; #38469; #23637; #35272; #20013; #24515; #20030; #21150; #12290; #23637; #20250; #33258;1987 #24180; #21019; #21150; #20197; #26469; #65292; #19968; #30452; #36208; #22269; #38469; #21270; #12289; #19987; #19994; #21270; #36947; #36335; #65292; #32467; #21512;... Exhibitors List - Show History - Organizers - Exhibit Profile Chinese Paper Invention chineseculture.about.com rsaquo; ... rsaquo; Chinese Culture rsaquo; InventionsPaper was invented by Cai Lun in 105 AD, which was one of the four great inventions by the Chinese. China paper prints first issue since dispute - Asia-Pacific - Al ... #9658; 4:29 #9658; 4:29 http://www.aljazeera.com/.../20131105303375793.ht... 15 hours ago Latest edition of Southern Weekly contains no reference to editorial row, after deal on relaxing government ... More videos for China paper Chinese paper cutting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_paper_cuttingChinese Paper Cutting or Jianzhi ( #21098; #32440;) is the first type of papercutting design, since paper was invented by Cai Lun in the Eastern Han Dynasty in China. Censors kept busy as strike-hit Chinese paper hits newsstands ... http://www.reuters.com ...

By: medwell1

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Chinese newspaper at center of censorship row back in print. Jan10, 2013. - Video