Violent cartoons: Where the official online gatekeepers are going wrong
Print Edition
THIS week “Elsagate” hit the Chinese mainland, leading some to discuss again China’s lack of TV, film and Internet video ratings, but is that really where the problem lies?
What is Elsagate? I asked the same question. Basically, a bunch of online video creators recently made videos and animations in the United States which were violent and sexual in nature and featured famous cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse, Spider-Man and Elsa from the Disney hit “Frozen.” Add “gate” to the end and you have a scandal.
YouTube took the step of removing that content and banning users who uploaded it, which was a pretty big move.
And that’s exactly what Chinese online video websites did when that material — some just ripped from YouTube and uploaded here and others created afresh — turned up online.
China’s online video platforms like Youku, iQiyi, Tencent and Sohu all lined up eagerly to denounce the content, also removing it and banning users who uploaded it, promising to reform their moderation processes so it doesn’t happen again.
But in China where the content approval process for video websites is more stringent, the question arises: How did that content get online in the first place? One possible answer comes once you understand that China’s film, TV and online video content, while following strict guidelines, doesn’t feature the type of rating system that many of us are used to in the West.
TV shows back home are rated, with a screen at the start of each show displaying G (general audiences), PG (parental guidance recommended), AO (adults only) and other ratings so that parents can monitor what is being watched in the house.
Movies are rated too, of course, and that is strictly enforced. If a film is R16 and you don’t have government-approved ID to prove your age, then you won’t get in.
In China, on the other hand, all content is instead meant to follow quite strict guidelines that aim to ensure all content — everything — is suitable for viewing by anyone, of any age. That’s why you often see kids in movies that you might think they otherwise shouldn’t watch, like “Logan” which, in the US, was rated R.
You will never see anyone checking ID at movie theater box offices in China.
So when “Elsagate” hit the Chinese mainland, and innocent-looking cartoons that any kid might click on featuring blood, violence and sexually suggestive material hit iPad screens, the question came up again: Why doesn’t China have a rating system?
But I’m really not sure that’s the fix in this situation.
China has laws related to media content, a lot of which is managed and policed mostly by websites and TV companies and the like.
Then when a video comes along that doesn’t fit neatly into an already written media guideline or piece of law, it can relatively easily fall through the cracks and get approved for all to see, especially since these website content moderators, for example, are trained to spot content that specifically conflicts with existing laws and guidelines.
That’s how I assume “Elsagate” got through, because the content wasn’t already dealt with explicitly in the country’s media laws and guidelines.
Now that the issue of these violent cartoons has gone “viral” and become a huge topic, websites are suddenly paying attention. No doubt some new guidelines will pop up that relate specifically to this content, followed by laws if the government don’t feel the industry has done enough. Violent cartoons masquerading as Pipa the Pig or Super Mario will without a doubt no longer appear on mainstream websites.
But again people will ask: “Why doesn’t China have a rating system?”
In my opinion, I think what’s probably needed is more common sense from the website staff who are checking and approving online content, not necessarily a specific rating system. If a bit more common sense is injected back into this process, we might find the problem takes care of itself.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
