China has announced that all songs posted on music Web sites must receive prior approval and foreign lyrics must be translated into Chinese, in a new push to control online content.
The culture ministry said the rules were designed to step up regulation of the Internet, curb rampant piracy and protect intellectual property rights, but experts say they will be difficult to implement.
“If there are thousands of Web sites that provide content, how can a single government check all of the content in just a few months?” said Liu Ning (劉寧), an analyst with Beijing-based high-tech consultancy BDA.
The official Global Times said yesterday that music providers would have to submit songs for approval by Dec. 31, when the new rules are to go into effect.
They would also have to translate the lyrics of foreign songs into Chinese, the report said.
In a statement sent to AFP, the ministry said the rules were necessary “to regulate the transmission of cultural information, guarantee the safety of the nation’s culture and regulate public ethics.”
It said information that violated public morality or spread pornography and violence “continuously appeared” online, “seriously damaging the healthy development of China’s online cultural market.”
A culture ministry spokesman told the Global Times that content generated by Internet users — including songs composed, recorded or uploaded by individuals — would not have to go through the censorship process.
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