Unprecedented censorship measures to be applied to online video and audio files

Reporters Without Borders condemns new regulations jointly issued by the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) and the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) under which only websites that are licenced by both the MII and SARFT will be able to post videos and audio files online from 31 January. “This is an unprecedented act of censorship,” the press freedom organisation said. “Under the pretext of developing China's media industry, the authorities are stepping up their control of online content, especially in the runup to the Beijing Olympics. Preventing people from sharing video and audio files denies them the ability to show and describe their lives. Any censorship could now be portrayed as a legal measure.” According to the new regulations, videos and audio files “attacking national sovereignty” will not tolerated. Content that refers to ethnicity, pornography, gambling or terrorism, incites violence, violates privacy or attacks Chinese traditions and culture is also deemed unacceptable. “Those who provide Internet audio and video services must serve socialist ideals and the Chinese people,” the government said in a statement issued yesterday. “In a flagrant display of hypocrisy, the state information bureau ordered the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post to withdraw an editorial published yesterday describing the measures as a way of introducing the requirement for an administrative licence,” Reporters Without Borders said. “These new rules mean that from now on only socialist video content will be allowed to circulate online.” Under the new rules, anyone operating a website that provides video content or allows users to upload or download videos will have to obtain a licence that must be renewed every three years. A spokesperson for Google (which owns the video-sharing site YouTube) said the new regulation could pose a problem as YouTube was aimed at a very broad public and was designed to allow Internet users all over the world to share their videos in a completely legal and safe manner. Human rights activist Hu Jia, the winner of the Reporters Without Borders - Fondation de France special China prize in 2007, used video to show the outside world his day-to-day existence under house arrest until he was detained and imprisoned on 27 December. Last August, a number of Chinese Internet companies including Yahoo!.cn et MSN.cn signed a conduct pledge with the Chinese authorities undertaking to try to get bloggers to register under their real names, to keep registration details and to delete blog content that was wrong or inappropriate. In 2007, China blocked access to more than 2,500 websites and arrested six bloggers. It continues to be the world's biggest prison for Internet users, with a total of 51 cyber-dissidents currently detained.