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Playing on Public Concerns; When public interests and Government Censorship collide
The games crackdown, which began, with little fanfare, in April and is scheduled to continue until September, is set to target four key areas, games containing Pornography, games depicting Violence, ‘Addictive’ games and games that ‘threaten state security’, and will be controlled by a newly formed censorship hit squad.
According to state media, the game hit squad will be in charge of censoring and policing both the games themselves, and channels trough the games are played and distributed; targeting internet cafes that allow the downloading of prohibited games, or which fail to prevent users from installing them, and shops which retail prohibited games.
Internet café that breach the new regulations will face a fine and the possibility of closure, while retailers will have their stock seized, and will be liable for other unspecified punishments.
No information was released about the penalties for private ownership of unapproved games, or as to what the state will do to manufacturers found producing illegal games for the domestic market. State media also did not state whether the prohibition would apply solely to games in domestic use, or whether it would apply to games produced in China for the export market.
In addition to the creation of the hit squad, Beijing also announced that it would be releasing a list of it "quality games" that not only met state standards, but which were considered to be ‘healthy’. No further definition of “quality” was offered.
Beijing’s move comes shortly after a number of western games were banned in China for contradicting Chinese state lines on sensitive issues or for portraying elements of China in a manner that Beijing considered objectionable. It also comes amidst growing concerns that the Chinese youth are unable or unwilling to regulate their use of video games, leading to fears of addiction and social problems caused by the over use of computer games.
There have been a number of high profile cases in China in which exposure/over exposure to online games has resulted in death and injuries; including several incidents in which game players have become exhausted or disorientated after spending many hours playing online, and have then placed themselves in dangerous situations that have resulted in fatalities, and at least one incident where a game player murdered an associate over a game related feud.
Despite public concerns over the use and abuse of video games, Beijing’s latest initiative apparently does not include an education program that goes beyond warning that playing certain games may lead to 'unhealthy ideas' and that extensive playing may interfere with other activities.
Sme China watchers have voiced that without a practical educational component, Beijing’s initiative seems more like a censorships, than an initiative based in the public interest. Such views are likely to spread if Beijing’s crackdown becomes a driftnet that targets free expression regardless of content; making an otherwise beneficial initiative into an expansion of Beijing’s familiar brand of blanket censorship.
Controlling Outside Influences
In as part of its move to target ‘objectionable games’ Beijing has begun a vetting process for imported games; all of which must now be approved by the Ministry of Culture before they can be distributed in China. The new vetting legislation is also retroactive; applying to new games and to foreign games already in circulation in China
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"The ministry allows the import of foreign online games
whose content accords with Chinese national conditions and has positive
effects on young people's mentality," |
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The hit squad has the power to levy sanctions against foreign games designers and distributors who do not submit their products for approval by September, and to prohibit games from sale if they do not meet government criteria.
State media releases did not however make clear the type or severity of the sanctions that could be levied, the criteria for the approval/prohibition of foreign games, or what the sate line is on levying sanctions against companies whose products are illegally distributed in China by pirates and counterfeiters.
Something Old/Something New
Despite the recent formation of game specific hit squad, the sanctioning and approval of online games has been going on in China for a number of years, and a several large international groups have are already working with the Chinese government in order to produce ‘China editions’ of their products, with many considering the benefits of sanctioned entry into large Chinese market to outweigh the moral implications of censorship.
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"There are various government offices you have to work
with to get a game into China, and we've been successful so far in
ensuring that our products are localized to fit their requirements," |
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The Market?
It has been estimated that China has over 13.8 million online game users, playing in a market that believed to be worth in the region of $US240 million in China alone. It has been predicted that by 2008 China’s online games market will be worth $US1.5 billion.
Though China’s market is large, piracy and the dominance of foreign games means only a small proportion of China’s domestic market translates into domestic profit for Chinese companies.
Currently 70 in every 100 $US spent on online gamming is with a Korea based company. There is some speculation that the state “Quality Game” list may be disproportionately stacked with Chinese games as a means of reducing Korea’s dominance of the market.
Concurrences and Contrasts
China's move against violent games comes amidst rising international concern over the potential problems brought by violent or highly sexual video games, and by 'addiction' to the internet.
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"There's no doubt young boys' brutal incidents have been caused under the influence of violent games." |
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In more restrained move than is being carried out in China, authorities in Kanagawa Prefecture, in neighboring Japan, recently announced that were are putting in place tight restrictions on the sale of some violent games; beginning with the western title Grand Theft Auto 3.
While stopping short of banning GTA III, Kanagawa authorities announced that they intended to place a prohibition on the sale of the game, and others like it, to minors, and are to impose 300,000 Yen fine on retails found breaching the prohibition.
In addition to restrictions on the sale of violent games to minors, Kanagawa legislation also aims to remove ‘objectionable titles’ from standard display areas, and to place them in ‘adult’ sections that have previously been reserved for pornography.
GTA topped the list of 6 video games, available in Kanagawa, that were condemned as being a risk to minors and the game has been widely criticized in several countries, including Britain and the US, for its portrayal of street violence, and for allowing game players to commit acts of murder against civilians and police officers.
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"[GTA III has the] potential to induce youth to feel like doing something cruel" |
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However, in contrast to the restrictions being placed on violent games in Japan and China, several attempts to curb the sale of violent games in the US have defeated, or are being challenged, by Constitutionalists and libertarian activists attempting to use vaguely worded clause in the US constitution to push the courts into overruling or preventing legislation seeking make it illegal to sell violent or sexually explicit games to minors without the consent of an appropriate adult.
The same constitutional clause, originally designed to protect free speech, has, in the past, been used to force public buildings to remove internet filters on open access computers, under the claim that filters go against the US constitutional right to freedom of speech. Controversially, such moves now allow convicted child sex offenders to view internet pornography in schools, public libraries, and other state or federally owned buildings.
China is also not alone in neglecting to issue strict guidelines for violent or sexual games, with some regions using a voluntary regulation code based on the system that is being used to rate violent or overtly sexual videos that allows with games manufacturers to rate their own products and to place warnings on game packaging at their discretion, placing content warnings on the boxes, but with enforcement being left up to individual retailers.
In several notable occurrences, retailers, inducing America’s Wal-Mart, have exceeded state legislation and refuse to stock controversial titles.
As yet, while there is widespread international concurrence that exposure to violent games can cause problems in children, there is no firm agreement on what constitutes an unacceptable level of violence.
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"It's difficult to draw a specific line to decide which kinds of violent games are influential on children," |
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Never a Straight Story
Though the Chinese media have concentrated on presenting its latest round of ‘industry regulation’ as being a campaign against violent and pornographic titles, and titles that are likely to induce addiction, a notable inclusion on the list of games types that are to be prohibited, or which must be modified before they can be imported, are games that are "threatening state security"; a euphemism used to mean games that do not comply with the official government line on history, politics, or geography.
During 2004, Beijing launched a crackdown on the game “Soccer Manger 2005”, a European sports title that allowed players to elect to manage teams from Taiwan, Tibet, Hong Kong and Macau separately from a mainland China team.
Ironically, in real life, Hong Kong actually has their own soccer team, and it has competed directly with the mainland side in international competitions. However, despite state assertions, in the game Taiwan's team was depicted as being a regional team and not a national team; in accordance to China's own demands under the 'one China' policy.
It is believed that the majority of 'Soccer Manager 2005' games in China were illegal pirate editions originating from Chinese Taiwan or other areas outside of the Chinese mainland. At the time of its banning, the game had not been officially released on the mainland; an official release would have been modified, prior to distribution, to comply with the state line.
Previously, Beijing also banned a WWII simulation that depicted Chinese Taiwan as being Japanese territory. Historically, the island was Japanese territory; it was ceded to Japan prior to WWII. Beijing's own history line supports this.
A Doomed Initiative?
Despite tough words from Beijing, some China watchers feel that Beijing's battle against 'objectionable games' may be a loosing battle, confined solely to a few politically sensitive titles by China's vast black market in pirated or counterfeit games.
Every day, countless counterfeit games are brought and downloaded in China, all of which bypass Point of Entry censorship, and are almost impossible to stop without a wider crackdown on pirates and counterfeiters; which Beijing is so far unwilling to commit to because of the benefits that these industries have for China's domestic economy.
A similar problem has already been observed with Chinese language movies imported from Hong Kong and Chinese Taiwan, many of which have been censored to remove political commentary, and some of which have been altered to change the nationalities of mainland Chinese villains to be other Asian nationalities.
As is likely to happen with games, censored or government approved movies that are retailed legally are often disregarded by the public in favor of counterfeits made from uncensored source because the counterfeits are cheaper and because they often arrive on the market significantly before censored additions are release or original additional are approved for distribution, giving them a notable edge.
Interesting analysis. Censorship issues in China are involved, of course,
at least on the surface, but online gaming is also a money-maker, with the
promise of great piles of revenue to come. One can be sure substantial
"fees" are involved during the registration process.
Rich
www.asiab
izblog.com
Rich [asia.business.intelligence@gmail.com]
I think this has much to do, in its seeming randomness, with the continued
quest of the government to appear strongly in control of all aspects of
Chinese society. While online censorship has been showing gaps for years,
with some news sites accessible and others not with little rhyme or reason,
there is still a strong desire among the CCP to appear on top of all issues
that could "disrupt" society in a negative way. Video games are really
minor worries, as they are most often targeted for content in the most
advanced democracies, where elected officials react to the outrage of
concerned parents, etc. with time on their hands. In China's case, the
issue I would guess is less a genuine concern for the negative effects of
said games, and more of an interest of appearing like everything that
happens in China occurs because the CCP has given its blessing. With
ideology given short shrift nowadays, and economic prosperity never
assured, the CCP wants to appear firmly on top of all issues that affect
the Chinese people.
Brian Wagner [bbw2011@columbia.edu]
I drifted away from it in the article a bit, but the title says it
all.
The government wants censorship and control, and the people are worried about online games. By doing this the government can tighten its control and say that the people wanted them to do it.
This measure will also give the government a WTO acceptable reason to ban tonnes of foreign games to give its domestic market the edge.
You can bet that some big name games are going to be caught up for months in the approval proccess, and that by the time that they are ready for release, a Chinese competitor will have already released a competing product.
ACB
ACB:
Your last comment has interesting implications. If this is the
case, that Chinese companies are releasing competeing games while the
foreign ones await approval, the US (or whomever) could easily bring China
in front of the WTO for an embarrassing dispute settlement, as this kind of
action stinks of trade protectionism.
Beth
Beth
This is largely supposition at the moment, a 'predction' if you will. As the games approval proccess hasn't cranked up in ernest yet, this isn't 'good science' only opinion.
Based on what we know about China, it is highly likely that Beijing will screw things in favor of domestic companies, and it is highly concievable that it might hold Sony's (for example) latest game in the approval proccess for six months or so, so that a rival Chinese product can get to the market first.
Given the vaguries of what was said, particularly when it come to 'addictive gaming' we could well see Beijing banning foreign games simply for being good.
Personally, I think that this initiative is doomed because of the large pirate market. The pirate versions will hit the street uncensored and will do it months before the legal games reach the shops. By the time an approved game comes out, everybody will already have downloaded the pirate.
This is protectionism, and it is mindless censprship for the sake of censorship.
ACB
http://www.rickross.com/
http://www.thechinazone.com/showthread.php?p=1868#post1868
http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-commonsense.htm
http://pd.cpim.org/2001/feb25/feb25_ned.htm
http://www.saag.org/papers2/paper115.html
http://bbs.chinadaily.com.cn/forumpost.shtml?toppid=394639
Okay. This is a bit too much. Please read my previous post. Its important
for government reform. Look at The China Zone thread.
http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/
The IACT links has a thing on pirating. Censored games? Shouldn't the
government consult the populace first?