Online video platforms in Mainland China will require a permit from the Chinese Ministry of Culture before being able to offer a channel to online streaming shows from the MSAR, Hong Kong, Taiwan and overseas countries.
The requirement is part of new regulations imposed by the country’s Ministry of Culture that will also make it compulsory for presenters of streamed online shows to register with their real names starting from next year.
The video hosting service providers will be mandated to identify video presenters via interviews or video calls, and then apply for licenses to local authorities. The providers will also have to carry out ‘real-time supervision of the video’ performances and keep records of ‘all shows’.
A ‘black list’ of online performers will also be created, while video platforms will also be mandated to create an ‘emergency’ system to detect and preserve relevant data from video content that violates Mainland China’s laws and regulations and report it to the country’s authorities.
Tightening noose
The announcement comes two days after the country’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) stated it would ‘crack down’ on activities that use live streaming platforms to broadcast content deemed ‘pornographic and unscrupulous’ or that infringe the law.
Since the beginning of the year, some 100 suspected violations having been caught by the state department.
According to information cited from the 2016 China Online Streaming Development Study Report, in the first six months of this year, the number of streaming service users reached 514 million China, accounting for 72.4 per cent of the country’s Internet population. with Xinhua
