Always looking for creative ways to silence dissidents, the Chinese Communist Party is now floating a near-total ban on independent and foreign journalism.
According to a document proposed by China’s top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Council, government agents suggest completely blocking all private capital funding of “news-gathering, editing, broadcasting, and distribution” — even on social media.
This ban will also potentially affect foreign outlets that wish to conduct research and broadcasting from the country, as well as several domestic outlets such as Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, which is owned and funded by Alibaba.
The document states that “This order intends to curb private investments in news agencies, newspaper publishing groups, radio or television broadcasters, and providers of online news, editing services or publishers.”
In 2020, China proposed similarly restrictive policies to crackdown on free speech and potential counter-narratives; however, several experts believe that this legislation expansion may be the final nail in the coffin.
“The government is making sure that it controls its message; it won’t hand over the pen to anyone else,” said a retired Shanxi University lecturer. “It wants a dominating voice to rule over everything.”
Indeed, all news that may sway public opinion is singled out in the document, and all news reporting will be delegated to those who receive state funding — and potential state oversight.
“The 2021 list is a very broad ban on everything relating to the news media sector, while the 2020 list does allow non-public capital participation, subject to equity caps,” wrote Singapore Management University associate law professor Henry Gao on Twitter.
“While many of the items banned in 2020 remain banned in 2021, there have been many important additions on the 2021 list, including banning non-public capital from engaging in news reporting & editing, public account, importing foreign news, holding news summits or prize awards.”
1. The 2021 list is a very broad ban on everything relating to the news media sector, while the 2020 list does allow non-public capital participation, subject to equity caps. pic.twitter.com/s6DBHo83E3
— Henry Gao (@henrysgao) October 10, 2021
Moreover, those receiving state funding will not be permitted to reproduce content from foreign media outlets, effectively marooning the Chinese population in a sea of CCP-directed news.
