China Introduces New Censorship Rules

With movies as epic as "Back to the Future" it seems silly that government would try to control such an outlandish fantasy as time travel, however that's exactly what they have done. With the recent trend of media using this theme Chinese officials are tired of the distortion of their history. With the decision made earlier this month time.com published an article quoting the country's State Administration for Radio, Film & Television; They “casually make up myths, have monstrous and weird plots, use absurd tactics, and even promote feudalism, superstition, fatalism and reincarnation.”

What's wrong with that?

If you ask me, the idea is ridiculous. The amount of government control in China is something that many Americans could never handle and this instance is a just the surface of how they control their people. I can understand that China wants to protect it's history, but do these fantasy ideas really taint that? According to country officials the "The producers and writers are treating the serious history in a frivolous way, which should by no means be encouraged anymore."

Could you imagine if the Chinese government heard some of the songs U.S. artists come out with?

As ridiculous as banning time travel may seem you have to look at the idea from both sides. When you focus on the positives of a country like China they do not have half the social distortion American society has. Their hierarchy of family and respect creates an organization that could arguably be said is missing in our country; their focus on discipline makes them some of the smartest people on the planet, which in turns leads to them being powerful in development and production of goods...but is all this achieved by having such dominant government control? Looking at the differences between the U.S. and China, governments role in our everyday lives is VERY different. Is that what creates the societal gaps between the two countries? Would we be in the governmental predicament we are now if we were more like China?

Maybe our country wouldn't be in such a mess, but would censoring and controlling so much more of our life be worth it?

The United States is sought after because of the freedom our country offers, especially in the artistic aspect. Did you know that China has what they call the 'Great Firewall' censoring their internet from websites like Twitter? Since 2009 China has had this firewall active in fear that social networking will allow for more protest and civilian out reach...DUH! That's what it's for!

What do you think? How much is too much when it comes to government control? Is the Chinese government our of line for prohibiting their people from these sorts of things, or is the U.S.' exposure to these things the root of may of our problems? Should our media be more controlled, or should China's be less controlled?

Filed Under: China, Twitter

Categories: WNY News