China tightens censorship of online TV programmes days after suspending shows featuring gay love, excessive sex and violence

Beijing has further tightened its muzzle on mainland China’s internet after a senior media content watchdog official demanded all online programmes be censored as strictly as those of traditional television programmes.

The move comes days after widespread audience dissatisfaction when popular shows, made and aired by Chinese video streaming sites, were removed or suspended until they had been censored to the satisfaction of the media content regulator.

Addiction, an online drama depicting gay love – a taboo subject for state media entertainment programmes – was taken offline last week just days after other programmes, including Go Princess Go, were stopped because of excessive sex, violence and controversial content.

Many younger mainlanders prefer to watch internet television programmes rather than the state-run channels such as China Central Television, which carry lots of propaganda.

Li Jingsheng, head of the television drama management division of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, said in a keynote speech at yesterday’s annual meeting of the National Television Industry Annual Conference that the watchdog would step up regulation of shows produced and broadcast on the internet, the web portal Sina.com reported.

Ray Zhao, an analyst at Guotai Juan Securities, said the impact of the watchdog’s new rules on the cultural sector would be “just like the central bank on the finance world”.

Zhao said: “What it says definitely shapes the industry. It will not affect firms’ earnings, but will limit their room for creativity.”