Thursday 14 February 2008

China Cracks Down on Horror Videos

2 comments:

Guanyu said...

China Cracks Down on Horror Videos
14 February 2008

BEIJING (AP) — China has banned video and audio products containing elements of horror or the supernatural in a bid to protect the “psychological health” of minors.

In an order posted on its Web site, China’s General Administration of Press and Publication said all existing products were to be pulled off the market and all hints of horror and the occult had to be removed from anything currently in production. It gave no details on how the crackdown would be enforced.

The horror, violence and cruelty portrayed are extremely harmful to the psychological development of children, it said in a statement posted late Wednesday.

Video and audio products often “involve alien-looking characters and fictional storytelling, both specifically plotted for the sole purpose of terror,” it said.

China first began a crackdown on horror in April 2006, targeting the popular Japanese comic “Death Note,” which involves a deadly notebook that can kill people if their names are written in it. The graphic novel depicts details of each victim’s gruesome demise.

Earlier this year, China announced a national crackdown on sexually suggestive video and audio products as part of a campaign to curb content considered harmful or in bad taste.

Regulators have also issued new warnings against pornography and a requirement that video-sharing Web sites apply for permits. The anti-pornography order said some movie companies and Web site operators had illegally broadcast pornography, inflicting harm on youthful audiences.

Guanyu said...

I suggest to Singapore government to ban horror movies at SGX too. So that when overseas market crash, MAS will shut down SGX to prevent our people from watching the horror movies.