March 22, 2008

Commie China Threatened By The Democratization Of Information, Order Video Sites To Shut Down

China is cracking down on web video again. Just days after the Communist government blocked access to foreign video sites such as YouTube after a video of the ongoing Tibetan protests appeared, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television said that 25 video-sharing sites have been ordered to shut down. 32 others will face penalties including Tudou, one of the most popular video sites in China.

The Chinese government has felt threatened by web video since day one. Mass media in China including all television stations are state-owned and at one point the Chinese government declared that all online video sites would have to be state-owned as well. They backed off however, when they realized that the profit potential generated by traffic numbers rivaling their state-owned TV stations would be stifled under Commie leadership.

A lot of worry on the part of the government is undoubtedly related to the Beijing Olympic Games this summer. Worry about the countries image being tarnished just ahead of such a dollar-generating event is valid, but any negative views of China are caused by the actions of the government, not the video-sharing sites. No matter how hard they try, the democratization of information will win in the end. What is the government going to do? Cut off internet access to China altogether? I don't think so.

Via The New York Times