What do China’s new television censorship rules mean for the coming generation?
As reported by The Guardian earlier today, China’s government has banned “vulgar, immoral and unhealthy content” from being broadcast on television.
While this may seem not seem too unreasonable, the specific content being banned includes “homosexuality, extramarital affairs, one night stands and underage relationships.” The new regulations also prohibits depictions of “smoking, drinking, adultery, sexually suggestive clothing, even reincarnation.” Shows not in compliance with the new regulations will be pulled altogether.
This decision comes as a surprise, considering pro-LGBTQ changes in Chinese law in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. While the Chinese government was praised for these changes, these recent regulations throw doubt on the government’s commitment to true change.
While the FCC in the United States does restrict nudity, cursing, and advertising of certain products on broadcast television, China’s newest regulations are among the strictest in the world.
While in the western world it is largely agreed upon that censorship of this magnitude is a massive step backwards in the development of an informed public, I want to look beyond that.
If these regulations are left in place and enforced, what effect will this have on children raised watching television that completely ignores the existence of gay or lesbian people?
The cultivation theory may offer us an insight into the repercussions of these newest regulations.
Originally proposed by George Gerbner in 1976, the cultivation theory generally states that as people watch more television, they are more likely to believe that the world is like what they see in television shows.
It is possible that children raised on this new breed of television may have difficulty viewing LGBTQ people as ‘true’ members of society. If children are never exposed to gay or lesbian characters interacting with others in normal social or work related situations, how are we to expect them to view them as such?
While television does play a roll in a person’s world view, Bandura’s social learning theory states that the largest influence is one’s parents.
Unfortunately, the next generation of children are also going to be raised by parents who attended an education system run by a government that only decriminalised homosexuality in 1997. This same government also had homosexuality listed as a mental illness up until 2001.
According to Outright International, an organization advocating for LGBTQ rights at home and abroad, “[h]omosexuality continues to be largely ignored and invisible within the Chinese education system.”
How is this coming generation supposed to learn to accept their peers, after having been raised in a society governed by a party that passively and actively tries to silence the LGBTQ community?
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