原声播报101：多家社交媒体被约谈，要求弘扬正能量内容

Social Media Platforms Pledge to Push ‘Positive Content’ on Chinese Culture
多家社交媒体被约谈，要求弘扬正能量内容


【文中生词】

aggregator 聚合器，聚合者

detrimental 有害的

give a cold shoulder to 冷淡对待，忽视

unethical 不道德的

unpatriotic 不爱国的

tighten its grip 加强控制

【词汇延展】

互联网生态安全 Internet ecology

互联网治理体系 Internet governance system

净网行动 'Clean Up the Internet' campaign

监管机构 regulatory watchdog

【单词详解】

summon

v. 传唤；召唤 

Authoritatively or urgently call on (someone) to be present, especially as a defendant or witness in a law court.

关联词汇

summon up 唤起；振作

summon by force/warrant 拘传

例句

She was trying to summon up the courage to leave him. 

当时她正试图鼓起勇气离开他。

If we understand each other and are willing to reach agreement, we can be empowered to summon multi-forces to grease the wheels of everything. 

如果我们相互理解，并愿意达成协议，我们就能够调动多方力量，使一切顺利进行。

conducive

adj. 有助于…的；有益于…的 

making a certain situation or outcome likely or possible

关联词汇

conduciveness 促成；诱因

conduce 导致；有益，有贡献于

sleep-conducive 助眠的

例句

Exercise is conducive to health.

运动有益于健康。

Chairs in rows are not as conducive to discussion as chairs arranged in a circle. 

椅子成排摆放不如成圈摆放便于讨论。

The big news is that online platforms like Weibo and iQiyi are being urged to push what’s been described as “positive content”. So, all in all, while it may be September, it looks like there’ll be some serious spring cleaning going on in China’s cyberspace.

Okay, so what exactly is going on here?

Well ,this request was made by the China Association of Performing Arts, which also goes by the name CAPA. CAPA perhaps. It’s a state-backed entertainment industry group that boasts members like theater companies, actors, directors and talent agents.

On Friday, the body actually summoned representatives from 14 different platforms for a meeting. Among those called in were ByteDance’s news aggregator Jinri Toutiao as well as the video sharing site Bilibili. Soon after, CAPA released a statement saying that the online platforms had pledged to take measures to support more desirable content.

Okay so let’s cut to the chase. What exactly counts as positive or desirable content?

Judging from the statement, this is content which actively promotes core socialist values as well as traditional Chinese culture. Now while this may sound a little bit vague, all of this is generally understood to refer to material promoting government-ordained “core socialist values,” Communist Party policy decisions, and China’s economic and social development, among other things. And quite critically, such content may not be detrimental to the image of the government, nor to the country’s efforts to build a harmonious society.

OK, so how’s this social media clean up then going to work?

According to the same statement, the online platforms have now agreed to adopt recommendation systems that will factor “content conducive to constructing a spiritual civilization” into their algorithms. This contracts with previous practices whereby the key recommendation criterion was usually traffic. 

OK Interesting, Josh! Now I know this story is about social media and online platforms, but the entertainment sector has also been given similar orders?

Yeah that’s right. So, earlier this month, China’s broadcasting watchdog called for a showbiz clean up. Or to be more specific, the National Radio and Television Administration told film and TV show producers should give a cold shoulder to celebrities who may appear to be unethical or unpatriotic. So, I guess, all of these happenings reflect on how Beijing is tightening its grip on the culture and entertainment industry.