HONG KONG–China is looking to tighten regulation of overseas-produced content, especially blocking current affairs shows from being shown in the country.
Chinese regulators will restrict film, TV series and animation that will be aired on domestic television stations or online video platforms, a draft guidance by the National Radio and Television Administration showed on Sept. 20.
Current affairs-related content would be particularly targeted, with the regulators saying they are not allowed to be introduced to the country.
The move comes amid a broader clamp-down targeting online content from livestreams and blogs to mobile gaming.
In July, China’s version of U.S. broadcaster NBCUniversal’s satire show “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) was temporarily suspended from a domestic video site.
Regulators also repeatedly vow to remove anything that “deviates from socialist core values.”
In the draft guidance, China’s media watchdog listed eight types of content that are not allowed to be imported to China, such as violence, terrorism, incitement to crime, endangering social stability and harmful to national sentiment.
By Twinnie Siu & Meg Shen
