China puts limits on internet video
Last Updated: Thursday, January 3, 2008 | 9:05 AM ET
The Associated Press
China has decided to restrict the broadcasting of internet videos — including those posted on video-sharing websites — to sites run by state-controlled companies and will require providers to report questionable content to the government.
It wasn't immediately clear how the new rules would affect YouTube and other providers of internet video that host websites available in China but are based in other countries.
The new regulations, which take effect Jan. 31, were approved by both China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and the Ministry of Information Industry, and were described on their websites Thursday.
Under the new policy, websites that provide video programming or allow users to upload video must obtain government permits and applicants must be either state-owned or state-controlled companies.
The majority of internet video providers in China are private, according to an explanation of the regulations posted on Chinafilm.com, which is run by the state-run China Film Group.
The policy will ban providers from broadcasting video that involves national secrets, hurts the reputation of China, disrupts social stability or promotes pornography. Providers will be required to delete and report such content.
"Those who provide internet video services should insist on serving the people, serve socialism … and abide by the moral code of socialism," the rules say.
The permits are subject to renewal every three years and operators who commit "major" violations may be banned from providing online video programming for five years.
The status of sites such as YouTube, a popular video-sharing site, remains in question.
San Bruno, Calif.-based YouTube is available in China and runs a Chinese-language website, but it wasn't immediately clear if any of its computer servers are located in China.
YouTube LLC, a subsidiary of Google Inc., didn't immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
Tudou.com, which claims to be China's largest video sharing website, also didn't immediately respond to an e-mail requesting comment.
Share Tools
Top News Headlines
- Everest victim’s husband says family not seeking government help
- The husband of a Toronto woman who died trying to climb Mt. Everest on Saturday says his family is not seeking government help to cover the cost of bringing his wife's body home. more »
- Employment Insurance review boards to be scrapped
- The federal government is scrapping two review boards used by people appealing decisions made about their employment insurance. more »
- Teens share bullying tales in confession booth
- Raw stories about bullying emerged when a video booth was set up inside a Quebec high school. more »
- Serial carjacker gets life term for fatal crash
- An Ontario judge was moved to tears while delivering a life prison sentence to a serial carjacker who killed a woman and injured five others after driving a stolen van into her car during a 2010 police chase. more »
Latest World News Headlines
- Everest victim’s husband says family not seeking government help
- The husband of a Toronto woman who died trying to climb Mt. Everest on Saturday says his family is not seeking government help to cover the cost of bringing his wife's body home. more »
- Canadian restrained on flight to Miami arrested
- A 24-year-old Canadian man is in federal custody for rushing toward the front of an American Airlines flight from Jamaica after the plane landed in Miami. more »
- Suspect in Etan Patz death charged with murder
- A New Jersey man accused of luring six-year-old Etan Patz into a New York City convenience store in 1979 and killing him has been charged with second-degree murder. more »
- Reclaiming the dead on Mt. Everest
- The difficulty, danger and expense of removing the bodies of climbers who died in Mount Everest's "death zone" mean most of the dead remain on the mountain as a stark reminder to other climbers of the risks. more »
Dispatches »
- Foreign slaves serving the U.S. military machine May. 24, 2012 3:33 PM How does a hairdresser recruited for work in Dubai, wind up slaving for the U.S. military in a war zone in Iraq? There are tens of thousands serving in what's come to be known as America's "Invisible Army."
Connect Newsroom Blog
Etan Patz Arrest, Helene Campbell & Facebook Flop May. 24, 2012 8:54 PM Three decades after a U.S. child Etan Patz disappeared, an arrest has finally been made.
- Aylmer triple stabbing leads to first-degree murder charges
- Everest victim's family asks for government help
- Reclaiming the dead on Mt. Everest
- Employment Insurance review boards to be scrapped
- Teens share bullying tales in confession booth
- Canada ending 'Buffalo shuffle' for visas, closing consulate
- Double-lung recipient dances on Ellen show
- Brave cat makes epic leap of faith
- Conservatives move again to have robocalls suits tossed
