Karaoke bars in China will be tasked with prohibiting songs that threaten national security, violate religious practices or encourage drug use.
Thousands of karaoke bars across China will be affected by the decisionImage: Marc Fernandes/NurPhoto/picture alliance
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China will ban karaoke songs that contain "harmful content" at entertainment venues, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday.
The Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism will create a "blacklist" to outlaw karaoke songs it deems a threat to society, Xinhua said.
The "blacklist" includes content that threatens national unity, sovereignty or territorial integrity as well as songs that violate state religious policies by propagating cults or superstitions.
Songs that encourage illegal activities such as gambling and drugs will also be banned, according to the ministry.
Hong Kong and China's persecuted artists
Hong Kong artists expressing pro-democracy views are having their creativity clipped like some mainland peers. Here is a list of those targeted by Beijing.
Image: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/picture alliance
Self-described 'cultural fireman'
Kacey Wong left Hong Kong for Taiwan recently, citing lack of space for artistic expression. Famous for his political performance art, the Cornell-educated artist has targeted issues like the Tiananmen Massacre or Chinese censorship. Here he is seen doing his 2018 performance piece, "The Patriot," playing the Chinese national anthem on an accordion inside a red cage.
Image: ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP
A song about choice
A strong supporter of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement, Anthony Wong (left) had performed a song entitled "A forbidden fruit per day" at a 2018 by-election campaign. "This song is about choice, whether society has a choice," he'd said. Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has now charged the singer with "corrupt conduct."
Image: Alvin Chan/SOPA/Zuma/picture alliance
Tyranny can't trump creativity
Cantopop singer, actress and pro-democracy activist Denise Ho remains blacklisted for joining Hong Kong’s 2014 Umbrella Movement. During a 2019 TED Talk, she said tyranny can't trump creativity. "Whether it is the protest on the streets that is taking a new fluidity, or the way that people reinvent themselves, the system needs time to counter it to find solutions."
Image: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images
A peace prize while imprisoned
The late Liu Xiaobo was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for "his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China" while serving his fourth prison term. The Chinese writer, literary critic, human rights activist, and philosopher was arrested numerous times, and has been described as China's most prominent dissident and its most famous political prisoner.
Image: picture alliance / dpa
Art as a tool for freedom
Contemporary artist and political dissident Ai Weiwei was jailed in 2011 purportedly for tax evasion. He was released after 81 days and this diorama is a chilling account of his incarceration. Ai is clear about the purpose of his art: "If my art has any meaning, it is as a tool for freedom. If I see people victimized by authoritarianism, I am a soldier in defending their freedom."
Image: Federico Gambarini/dpa/picture alliance
When truth becomes taboo
Filmmaker and author Zhou Qing has paid a high price for writing about taboo topics. In a 2011 interview, he said, "In China, possession of the truth has brought people endless grief. A normal citizen who knows the truth and speaks it might lose his or her family or job. A writer who reveals truth courts the danger of imprisonment. An official who insists on truth might lose his or her life."
Image: Ai Weiwei/Zhou Qing
Using pop culture to pan propaganda
Born and raised in Shanghai, Badiucao is a renowned Chinese political cartoonist, artist and rights activist who moved to Australia to study in 2009, and has lived there since. He adopted this pen-name to protect his identity. He makes political statements by mashing satire and pop culture with typical images from Communist Party propaganda. President Xi Jinping is a recurrent subject of his.
Image: Libor Sojka/Ctk/dpa/picture alliance
From hero to zero
Initially feted by Chinese state media as "the pride of China" for her Best Director win at the 2021 Golden Globes, Beijing-born Chloe Zhao's Oscar win later went largely ignored, with social media mentions of it being scrubbed. It is speculated that her 2013 interview with Filmmaker Magazine, in which she described as China "a place where there are lies everywhere" was the reason for the snub.
Image: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/picture alliance
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'Healthy and uplifting' songs instead
The ministry said content providers to karaoke venues would be responsible for auditing the songs, adding that it urged them to supply "healthy and uplifting" music to these venues.
China has nearly 50,000 entertainment outlets with a basic music library of over 100,000 songs, according to Xinhua.
Last year, Chinese officials banned around 100 songs they said were promoting violence.
China heavily regulates content like violence, pornography, or politically critical commentary from social media platforms. The country also has one of the world's most restrictive environments for media and the press.
