Three popular Chinese online video services have been temporarily shut down. They will likely reappear with "beefed-up oversight":
Beijing has shut down online video services of three popular Chinese media sites in a swift action that unleashed financial shockwaves and posed a firm warning to the country's online video industry: clean up, or close down.
China's internet shares tumbled after news of the unusually harsh clamp down spread, with Weibo Corp's down 6.1 percent, while SINA Corp, which has a stake in Weibo, fell 4.8 percent. That amounted to a combined $1.3 billion knock to the market value of both companies.
The Twitter-like service Sina Weibo, popular online video site ACFUN and news portal iFeng.com will have to stop video streaming services that violate the country's regulations, the TV and film watchdog said on Thursday.
"This will provide a clean and clear Internet space for the wide number of online users," the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television said in a brief statement on its website.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 24 2017, @01:14AM (9 children)
Why use imitation Twitter when you can use real Twitter.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Saturday June 24 2017, @02:14AM (1 child)
Because they don't know? lack the skills? is just cumbersome?
There can be many reasons.
(Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Saturday June 24 2017, @06:50AM
More importantly? They have nothing to gain? :)
(Score: 3, Informative) by KGIII on Saturday June 24 2017, @02:34AM (5 children)
GFW probably disallows access to Twitter. You can probably try a VPN that has a Chinese endpoint to test. I am way too lazy. But the GFW blocks lots of stuff like that and Facebook. It's what they do.
To be clear, the people know this. I have been there and discussed this with a number of Chinese nationals. They don't actually mind. Well, a few do. Most are just fine with it - it helps keep things harmonious, they say. It is a very different culture, government, and viewpoint.
They are well aware that they are censored, forbidden access, and monitored. They don't mind, mostly. There is some dissent but not as much as I'd have imagined.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Beau Slim on Saturday June 24 2017, @03:02AM (2 children)
This matches my experience talking to PRC nationals as well. Their thinking goes along the lines of, "The law says that if you say something against the government, you go to jail or are executed. So, if you break that law, you deserve the consequences." The entire concept of unjust laws simply doesn't enter their minds. I found it very disturbing.
(Score: 2) by KGIII on Saturday June 24 2017, @03:25AM
They think we are the weird ones, more often than not.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 24 2017, @06:18AM
In this day of snooping/etc, can you really blame them from telling other people that - when they have no reason to believe you might not be someone hired from the government sent to test them, or someone not from the government that could use the evidence of dissent against them as blackmail? I doubt the concept eludes them, but perhaps the severity of the consequences eludes you? It's a reason why western countries should be fighting their similar fall into such harsh censorship environments least we find out we're doing the same simply because we want our kids to grow up knowing their parents.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 24 2017, @03:26AM (1 child)
Yes, and it's very unfortunate to see that attitude spreading around the globe. Too much submissiveness in this world.
(Score: 2) by KGIII on Saturday June 24 2017, @03:45AM
The vast majority did not fight in the American Revolution. If historians are to be believed, then something like 70% of the population weren't in favor of warring against England.
It isn't spreading. We have always had a majority that accepts oppression. Popular uprisings are usually anything but. They are usually a vocal minority, though they may get greater participation once it looks like they have a chance of ending the oppression.
At that point, of course, someone else usually steps in and also oppresses. A beautiful example of this was the French Revolution. After killing the wealthy that they didn't like, they kept on killing for trivialities. And, of course, this led to one Mr. Napoleon Bonaparte. Between those two events, they killed the hell out of each other. They'd kill you for not being pious enough - and that wasn't even based on religion.
Nah, they tossed religion to the curb, made up new days of the week, enforced social norms, and just kept on killing each other. They basically went on oppressing each other, pretty much immediately, except they were now killing more people than the royal families ever did.
We are not that smart, as species. We aren't that courageous, either. This isn't new. It is how it has always been and how it will probably always be.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 25 2017, @11:36AM
Why use real Twitter if 99.9% of your potential customers will never see it?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by kaszz on Saturday June 24 2017, @02:16AM (2 children)
Anyone that knows what specific content that were deemed "bad" ?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 24 2017, @02:28AM (1 child)
Most of it by their reaction, they stopped all streaming.
(you wouldn't understand anyway... the content, the services and the govt are all Chinese)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 25 2017, @11:41AM
Not all Chinese, there is plenty of English entertainment to be found also.
(Score: 2) by mendax on Saturday June 24 2017, @02:55AM (2 children)
One wonders why anyone would bother running an Internet business that deals with any kind of speech in China. It's so easy to get shut down and so easy for company officials to be locked up in prison or worse. The US has its own problems and the government has its own problems with draconian policies and procedures, not to mention an corrupt and incompetent asshole like Trump as president, but the First Amendment is why we are free to say what we want about any government in this forum. I suspect the Chinese government would not give us as much latitude.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by tftp on Saturday June 24 2017, @03:29AM
You can say the same thing about driving a car. If you drive like a maniac, you can get shut down or locked up in prison. But if you toe the line, you will be perfectly fine.
I can't say what prompted the government to hit them with such a large clue stick, but, as others already mentioned, this is just to remind the businesses that they are treading on thin ice. Fear is a necessary part of forced compliance.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 25 2017, @11:48AM
Maybe the largest potential consumer base in the world. Hundreds of millions of middle class customers with rising incomes and standards of living. All looking to spend their entertainment dollars.
These people bothered, http://www.chinawhisper.com/the-chinas-10-richest-internet-billionaires/ [chinawhisper.com] seemed to work out ok for them.