Reigning in the New Media in 2008

keywords:

New Media, SARFT, MII, policy and regulation, super-ministry

Strengthening government controls over the rapidly evolving new media sector looks set to be one of the key ongoing themes for 2008. The year kicked off with tough new regulations on online video sites, plus a series of official declarations on the need to keep cracking down on online piracy and pornography.

At the same time, some subversive material was prominently circulated on the web, embarrassing the government and driving home the need for tighter controls. Like the mobile phone footage of the marital dispute that disrupted CCTV-5's ceremony to celebrate its re-launch as The Olympics Channel.

The cameras stopped rolling after the wife of the top CCTV-5 announcer hosting the ceremony rushed on stage and launched into a tirade about her husband's infidelity and Chinese culture. However, an anonymous viewer posted the whole scene on video-sharing sites Youtube and Toudou.

Regulation is set to become more problematic as other user-driven web 2.0 applications, such as social networking sites, continue to take off in China.

Now rumors are circulating that a high-level central government team is working on a plan to merge the State Administration of Radio, Film and TV (SARFT) with the Ministry of Information Industry (MII). Under the plan, SARFT and MII would merge with the State Council's Informatization Office to create a new organization similar to the National Telecommunications Committee.

Sohu.com reports a source within the MII has confirmed that there is strong demand for the merger and changes have already been made in line with the framework for the post-merger organization. It also quotes a source from the Shanghai Radio and TV Authority claiming the merger is only a matter of time.
The regulations on online videos released at the start of the year were the first joint regulations to be issued by MII and SARFT. Are they the first step in the plans for the merger? Sohu.com's source at the Shanghai Radio and TV Authority thinks so. Watch this space for future developments.