China Media Project reports that State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT) tightened the control of “ads with ‘subtle sexual connotations’ as well as ads for ‘illegal’ medications and those promising to enhance sexual performance.”
…While the SARFT notice presses local television stations across China to “broadcast advertisements in accord with laws and regulations,” the language is also charged with political buzzwords for media control. The first passage of the notice brings advertisements under the same category as other content, subject to the supreme party media control principle of “guidance of public opinion”:
1. The first priority being benefit to society, [media must] strictly grasp [correct] guidance [of public opinion]. Like other broadcast programs, broadcast advertisements have a powerful guidance character (ÂغÂêëÊÄß) and are closely connected to the interests and lives of the masses …[Full Text]
