China cracks down on Internet video regulation

Chinese state authorities have made plans to really step it up on Internet video censorship. The State Internet Information office and China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television released a statement Monday saying that Internet video providers will be held liable for their content posted to their services. The new plan is to standardize Internet video and promote a more healthy development of all content.

Some Chinese programs have been known to be offensive, violent and even feature pornographic content as China's Internet video culture has developed. People have complained and expressed the need to protect China's youth, arguing that it produces "a negative impact on both the mental health of young people and the development of online video content providers."

Chinese authorities are now requiring Internet video producers to ramp up the review process before they get posted online, also making demands that the Internet video industry groups crack down on supervision and training on people responsible for reviewing content. The Chinese Internet landscape is one of the strictest in the entire world, known for requiring Twitter-like websites to implement real-name systems in user accounts and blocking content from other social media sites through its Great Firewall.

[via ComputerWorld]