Tag: Censorship

@julia_marnin: China [CCP] Orders Broadcasters to ‘Put An End’ to ‘Sissy Men,’ and ‘Other Abnormal Esthetics’

[Editor Charlie sez: Will TikTok be next?]

The Chinese government ordered its TV broadcasters to “put an end to sissy men and other abnormal esthetics,” its TV regulator said, as China’s Communist Party cracks down on its society for a “national rejuvenation” ordered by President Xi Jinping, the Associated Press reported.

China’s TV regulator insultingly addressed effeminate men with the slang term “niang pao” meaning “girlie guns.” The order to “put an end” to them demonstrates the Chinese government’s worries that male pop stars provide a lack of masculine influence for the nation’s men. Meanwhile, in nearby Japan and South Korea, many male pop stars are known for having a sleek and feminine image.

In addition, broadcasters were ordered to not promote “vulgar internet celebrities” alongside celebrity culture and that broadcasters should “vigorously promote excellent Chinese traditional culture, revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture.”

Read the post on Newsweek

@zeynep: It’s the (Democracy-Poisoning) Golden Age of Free Speech

 

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Emporers Zuck and Medvedev

 

For most of modern history, the easiest way to block the spread of an idea was to keep it from being mechanically disseminated. Shutter the news­paper, pressure the broad­cast chief, install an official censor at the publishing house. Or, if push came to shove, hold a loaded gun to the announcer’s head….

In today’s networked environment, when anyone can broadcast live or post their thoughts to a social network, it would seem that censorship ought to be impossible. This should be the golden age of free speech….

And sure, it is a golden age of free speech—if you can believe your lying eyes. Is that footage you’re watching real? Was it really filmed where and when it says it was? Is it being shared by alt-right trolls or a swarm of Russian bots? Was it maybe even generated with the help of artificial intelligence? (Yes, there are systems that can create increasingly convincing fake videos.)

Or let’s say you were the one who posted that video. If so, is anyone even watching it? Or has it been lost in a sea of posts from hundreds of millions of content pro­ducers? Does it play well with Facebook’s algorithm? Is YouTube recommending it?….

Here’s how this golden age of speech actually works: In the 21st century, the capacity to spread ideas and reach an audience is no longer limited by access to expensive, centralized broadcasting infrastructure. It’s limited instead by one’s ability to garner and distribute attention. And right now, the flow of the world’s attention is structured, to a vast and overwhelming degree, by just a few digital platforms: Facebook, Google (which owns YouTube), and, to a lesser extent, Twitter.

Read the post on Wired

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