It's really interesting that such a bland, un-subversive show whose only mentions of sensitive topics are in bad throwaway jokes is so heavily censored. I guess a more interesting show would just not get aired at all.
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American censorship is honestly no better, it's just that the show was written with the specifics of American censorship in mind.
Sorry, this "we're the same" retort is exhausting. The United States government does not employ censors to remove portions of shows before allowing them to air (or stream, whatever). The closest thing I can think of is DoD not giving access to a movie unless it paints Navy pilots in a certain light. Okay, fine. Not nearly the same as what this site is showing us.
Yes, we have cultural taboos, like any culture. Studios have more trouble presenting some viewpoints over others. Chappelle gets protested, that one episode of Community was memory-holed on Hulu (but not on Amazon!). We ban pornography on public airwaves (but not on streaming or cable or satellite, or Blueray).
If you compare and contrast the pervasiveness of censorship between China and the United States, the difference is huge.
When it comes to artistic freedom, the US is way better than China. Maybe you can say we can improve even more, sure. But that's a long way off from our censorship being "honestly no better".
What? Yes it does - the FCC has been doing this for a half-century at least.
There's a big difference between using the rule of law to shape what can and cannot be said or sold or published. Compared to different private publishers/agents/etc deciding what they wish to do. The marketplace solves the latter problem - and it has!
People are getting caught up in the "chicken" joke, but if you read the read of the article you'll see that crime dramas had to be re-shot so the "side of justice" wins in the end.
What kind of anodyne cultural bullshit is that? Only the good guys win - BY STATE LAW.
So absolutely not, the US and China are not even remotely the same. To suggest so is so ridiculous offensive it opens one up to accusations that they are a Chinese sock puppet... and it's a totally reasonable opinion to hold!
The 100 most popular movies produced in China are completely fine to stream in the US. Not a single scene or phrase is removed by our government before allowing us to watch them. Same with music, TV, books, and art.
The reverse is not even close. Can you give me a Western example that is analogous to Tank Man, or to Winnie the Pooh?
> We ban pornography on public airwaves (but not on streaming or cable or satellite, or Blueray).
And the FCC has a very narrow scope. I also happen to disagree with their prudishness (Janet Jackson, 2003). It does not back the argument that we're "honestly no better".
Do you honestly think that America & the West have integrity with the Constitution & the spirit of the Founders? If you do, boy do I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.
The global south & many westerners are tired of the lectures coming from the NeoLiberal Democracies & it's easy for them to identify a long list of hypocrisy.
By the way, here's the (uncensored) leaks from Julian: https://wikileaks.org/afg/
Edward Snowden really exposed the NSA almost 10 years ago. Yet I can still access the PowerPoints and other materials he leaked. They're on Wikipedia! That's like, the opposite of censored. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM)
Can you make a statement about Tank Man, or Xi's resemblance to Winnie the Pooh, or Peng Shuai and her accusations? Do it on WeChat. Let me know how that goes.
Are you saying that a production company not airing craziness is the same as being arrested for calling your leader a cartoon bear? Is that the equivalency I'm supposed to be drawing? (https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/tweets-01232020164342...)
Content providers are censored by streaming providers for political reasons. Hate speech laws in England & Europe criminalizes (jail time) people for saying the wrong things about protected political groups.
Banks & the Canadian government have criminalized people donating to the Trucker protest. The protest leaders are still held in detention. Also journalists have doxxed the people who donate.
January 6th protesters are help in prison & finances ruined by having to fight a federal case for attending a protest. And if you want to call it an insurrection to excuse the authoritarian response China does the same against people who protests there.
> Broadcasting obscene content is prohibited by law at all times of the day. Indecent and profane content are prohibited on broadcast TV and radio between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when there is a reasonable risk that children may be in the audience.
> Obscene content does not have protection by the First Amendment. For content to be ruled obscene, it must meet a three-pronged test established by the Supreme Court: It must appeal to an average person's prurient interest; depict or describe sexual conduct in a "patently offensive" way; and, taken as a whole, lack serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.
via [https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/obscene-indecent-and-pr....]
Christ in the Original Star Trek run CBS had a censor employed on set for an episode where a character wore a risky outfit to make sure no nipples popped out. That isn't different to this Chinese company making sure their shows meet the restrictions of the Chinese authority.
Your weird puritan country will air a show where a character shoots someone with a gun in the street, in your copaganda shows, but god forbid one of them gets a tit out whilst they do it.
You’re raising a point about RF broadcast of obscene content. That’s a tiny slice of available media. What China is censoring is being done as completely as they can muster. What the FCC censors is narrowed down to airwave broadcasts.
Surely you can see that there’s a difference here, right?
Tank Man is prohibited completely. Not just over a certain delivery method, during certain times of day.
The scale isn't black and white with China being terrible and USA being great here, it's a sliding scale of shitness, with one being a 4/10 and the other 9/10, but the 4/10 pretends to be a 0/10 and proports "free speech for all. Home of the Free world. The government can't tell you what you can say and do." and the other doesn't pretend it is.
“Honestly no better”
That’s what set me off, because it so obviously not true. It’s better in the US. Not perfect. But definitely better.