Censoring Songs Again

I read that China's Ministry of Culture has ordered music download sites to delete songs by Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, the Backstreet Boys and other pop stars within two weeks or face punishment. Hmmm I know those dictators like to censor (well, they try to censor, but most of what they don't want people to hear gets to the masses anyway), but why censor a now dismantled boy band like the Backstreet Boys? Are they fomenting revolution in China with their syrupy sweet innocent love songs?

The ministry posted a list of 100 songs that are forbidden in China and said that if any of those download sites allowed them they would be "punished" in some way. Maybe the punishment for them should be to post on line only the top ten speeches of of premier Hu. Oh no. It is too much. That would be the death penalty for the sites. Strange thing about the banned list is that there are also some songs from Hong Kong listed. If a Chinese city of that prominence is making "objectionable tunes" the Chinese dictators must be losing the censorship race.

The ministry said the rule was meant to preserve China's "national cultural security. Haha Yes, I can see Lady Gag and The Backstreet Boys tumbling social order. To be fair to the dictators (Fair to the dictators...seems ironic, doesn't it) the censorship order didn't say that the listed songs were objectionable, just that they had not been approved for distribution. Kind of paranoid view, I think. But that's what censorship is all about. it sees demons before it even opens it's eyes.

The Chinese government carefully screens the content of imported entertainment content for political messages or commentary that runs contrary to its official line. But does ti really think that China can block contrary information from the population these days? I think technology and in specific, communication inroads, makes it a futile exercise to try to censor in a capitalist society like China has become. It's an indication the regime is out of touch with how China has changed and how much the population now ignores regime propaganda and censorship.

China has been trying to boost its interaction with foreign and domestic media to show are more open nature. Many government bodies are holding more news conferences and posting transcripts online. But it seems to me that it is really all thin facade until they stop censoring the Lady Gaga's and Backstreet Boys of the world.