The Chinese government has recently produced a lot of international news: the trade war with the U.S. government; the suspicious financing on Malaysia’s former corrupted ruling party; the suppression on Taiwan’s foreign and diplomatic space, etc. Excluding the news related to international politics, the Chinese government was also fighting against the Chinese internet users at the same time. What exactly is going on?
Let’s review these entire events. During the first semi-final of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest, Irish singer Ryan O’Shaughnessy’s performance featured two male dancers expressing a gay love story. This might not be a big deal in Western countries, but in China, the program violates the latest media censorship regulations. Therefore, Eurovision’s Chinese agent Mango TV deleted all of O’Shaughnessy’s song performance . At the same time, by the new media censorship regulations, Mango TV also blurred the rainbow flag that appeared in the competition and the tattoo of another Azerbaijani contestant . Subsequently, due to the intervention from EBU, Eurovision had to retreat from the Chinese market temporarily.
In addition to this Eurovision incident, Peppa Pig, Winnie the Pooh, tattoos, and Hip-Pop are all prohibited from transmitting in media in various forms. Obviously, the Chinese government has recently intensified media censorship. In the ongoing 2018 FIFA World Cup, we will undoubtedly see many tattooed soccer players. But China’s soccer players were also recently ordered to cover their tattoos on the match day, and due to the recent media censorship regulations, is the Chinese government ready for blurring all the tattooed players when the World Cup matches are live?
This series of Internet censorship incidents has spurred Chinese netizens to action. Faced with the Eurovision incident, Chinese Internet users directly criticized the media censorship regulations and Mango TV’s compromise with the government . In response to the previous incidents, on April 12, Chinese activists drove hundreds of cars at late night, passing through the entrance of the State Administration of Press, protesting its media censorship with horn.
We do not know the particular beliefs or motivation behind the Chinese officials enforcing censorship rules. But, what the government officials believe is not the most important factor. What matters most is that media censorship is an infringement of property rights and voluntary exchanges for information; and what is important is that this wave of protests, shows a general increased awareness of consumer sovereignty.
It is not known whether the Chinese politicians have realized that 40 years after the market-oriented reform, many people who benefited from the free exchange of markets and private property rights, especially young netizens, are less likely to behave like many in the older generations who had experienced the terrible Cultural Revolution, which brought widespread violations of individual freedom and the infringement of private property rights. This reality may also be a reminder to the Chinese government which has deliberately intensified the cult of the political leader: the rise of individualism is making it harder for China to return to Mao-era politics. Only by respecting individual freedom, and further advancing market-oriented reforms will it be a policy for all to win together.
