China - TV Blocks Out LBGT Content During Eurovision Live Broadcast

It’s Eurovision time again this week, meaning the 28-member states (and some invited non-European countries like Australia and Israel) compete in the biggest singing contest in the world during two semi-finals and one grand final show on Saturday 12 May. This will probably happen without being broadcast on Chinese TV though.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) was informed that Mango TV, one of China’s biggest TV channels, chose to bar LGBT elements of the competition. Not only did the Chinese broadcaster blur out LGBT supporting rainbow flags, it also did not show the performances by the Irish and Albanian entries.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">China&#39;s Hunan TV has lost its right to broadcast <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Eurovision?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Eurovision</a> after it censored Ireland (owing to its depiction of a gay couple) and Albania (because of Eugent&#39;s tattoos) <a href="https://t.co/kqZ3XvLG2d">https://t.co/kqZ3XvLG2d</a></p>&mdash; wiwibloggs (@wiwibloggs) <a href="https://twitter.com/wiwibloggs/status/994751825722134528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 11, 2018</a></blockquote>

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The EBU claims that the Chinese broadcaster therefore would be barred from future transmissions. A statement read: "It is with regret that we will therefore immediately be terminating our partnership with the broadcaster and they will not be permitted to broadcast the second Semi-Final or the Grand Final."

Related coverage: https://thegoldwater.com/news/24712-China-Great-Firewall-Has-New-Target-The-34-Billion-Views-Of-Peppa-Pig

Chinese social media platform Weibo, which had just last month tried to block gay content, was abuzz with still images of the censored performances and the blurred flag. Many users claimed the Chinese state decision to remove obvious references to homosexuality was a "major step backward".

<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">&quot;Love is Love&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/Ryan_Acoustic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Ryan_Acoustic</a> reacts to the news that the EBU have terminated China&#39;s Mango TV from broadcasting <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Eurovision?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Eurovision</a>. For censoring <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ireland?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ireland</a>&#39;s performance due to LGBT content. <a href="https://t.co/gNlvJeFJti">pic.twitter.com/gNlvJeFJti</a></p>&mdash; BBC Eurovision🇬🇧 (@bbceurovision) <a href="https://twitter.com/bbceurovision/status/994689785674395649?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 10, 2018</a></blockquote>

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The Irish singer Mr. Ryan O'Shaughnessy who is accompanied by two male dancers performing the end of a relationship claimed he was sad to see the Chinese act in this manner. Mr. O'Shaughnessy: "From the very start we've said love is love - whether it's between two guys, two girls or a guy and a girl so I think this is a really important decision."

Related coverage: https://thegoldwater.com/news/23165-China-Weibo-400-Million-Users-Blocks-Gay-Content

"They haven't taken this lightly and I think it's a move in the right direction so I'm happy about it."

EBU data reveals that in 2017 some 185 million people in 42 markets worldwide watched the Eurovision’s shows.

Source:

https://qz.com/1275561/eurovision-terminated-its-contract-with-chinas-mango-tv-after-it-censored-lgbt-content-in-irelands-entry/