Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

China Lauds iPhone App That Spreads Gov't Views

Posted by timothy on from the kind-of-action-adobe-wants-in-on dept.

angry tapir writes "China's film and TV regulator has praised the growth of an iPhone application from state broadcaster CCTV as the country looks for new ways to project its political views abroad. The free iPhone app, one of a growing number from Chinese state-owned news outlets, has gained 500,000 users in the month or so since it went online and is adding 2,000 new users each day, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television said in a statement on its Web site. The CCTV app has shown 'favorable performance' and proven especially popular during broadcasts of major events, such as a high-flown military parade held in Beijing last month, the statement said."

24 of 158 comments (clear)

  1. Propaganda by Blue+Stone · · Score: 4, Funny

    Want to keep your citizens in line, with false statements and a warped view of the world? There's an App for that.

    --
    Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
    1. Re:Propaganda by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Why yes, indeed there is!...

    2. Re:Propaganda by Shakrai · · Score: 2, Funny

      Too bad MSNBC doesn't have one. Then we could get our warped view of the world from both political extremes.....

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    3. Re:Propaganda by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hahaha, Americans think they have two political extremes! How cute.

    4. Re:Propaganda by jmac_the_man · · Score: 2, Informative

      Protip: There are two countries in either North or South America with "United States" in their name, the United States of America and the United Mexican States. There's only one with America in its name.

    5. Re:Propaganda by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      You've never been to Texas, have you?

  2. Old News by SuperKendall · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Want to keep your citizens in line, with false statements and a warped view of the world? There's an App for that.

    Yes, we've seen that before. Important "news" from our Dear Leader!

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Old News by MickyTheIdiot · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I don't Obama using apps for news is a big deal since there are plenty of other places to get news that have various points of view.

      If China has an app like this but is letting other news get through... more power to them. It becomes a problem when other POVs are not allowed to be heard.

    2. Re:Old News by FlyingSquidStudios · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Because, of course, that never happened when he was in office, right?

      --
      http://twitter.com/OLDTELEGRAM
    3. Re:Old News by KillShill · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "If there were no App£e, we'd have one less evil empire" A derivation of Voltaire.

      --
      Science : Proprietary , Knowledge : Open Source
  3. Needlessly alarmist by CoolGuySteve · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "The UK's Heritage Minister has praised the growth of the iPlayer application from state broadcaster BBC as the Trust looks for new ways to project its political views. The free flash video streaming, one of a growing number from British state-owned news outlets, has gained 500,000 users in the month or so since it went online and is adding 2,000 new users each day, the BBC Trust said in a statement on its Web site. The iPlayer app has shown 'favorable performance' and proven especially popular during broadcasts of major events, such as a recent royal funeral, the statement said."

    But I guess "Chinese government streams television network to iPhones" wouldn't be nearly as fetching.

    1. Re:Needlessly alarmist by slimjim8094 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yes, but the BBC isn't really looking for "new ways to project its political views". In fact, it's ridiculously neutral compared to literally anything I've seen state-side (even NPR and PBS, which come closest).

      Reporting != indoctrinating.

      Frankly I'm not too fussed about the Chinese, everyone knows they won't be able to keep this up.

      --
      I have developed a truly marvelous proof of this comment, which this signature is too narrow to contain.
    2. Re:Needlessly alarmist by CoolGuySteve · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don't care about the BBC, I care about the inflammatory tone of the summary. CCTV is a network consisting of 19 channels, a small fraction is news that is favourable to the Chinese government but most of it is typical TV crap like talk shows, dramas, and cartoons.

      Saying that delivering CCTV over iPhone is a new way to project political views or some form of indoctrination is about as accurate as doing a find/replace of CCTV for BBC in the summary. It is needlessly alarmist, it's a troll written by someone who has never watched TV in China.

      I wish more networks would think about making their content available on the iPhone, state-sponsored or not. It's quite convenient. But if someone has an issue with CCTV's content or the lack of free speech in China, they should write accurately about that and not what medium it is delivered over.

  4. Re:Holy fagioli... by Nahor · · Score: 3, Insightful

    And this app was approved by Apple?

    I applaud Apple for releasing it. If Apple rejected it just because they don't like what its content, that would be censure and they would be no better that the Chinese government.

  5. Re:iPhone sales? by oldspewey · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yes, but now that the Chinese people will be purchasing them under communist party decree, sales should pick up nicely.

    --
    If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
  6. Double standard? by Beelzebud · · Score: 3, Informative

    So Apple has rejected apps that are "political" (an app about the cost of health care, for one), but they're fine with a Chinese government propaganda app?

    1. Re:Double standard? by Beelzebud · · Score: 2, Interesting

      http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/09/apple-denied-health-care-app-for-political-reasons-developer-says/ Or just google the phrase "apple rejects health care app".

    2. Re:Double standard? by Beelzebud · · Score: 2, Informative

      The BBC is not 'state run'...

  7. Oh, the irony... by DieByWire · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Today, we celebrate the first glorious anniversary of the Information Purification Directives. We have created, for the first time in all history, a garden of pure ideology. Where each worker may bloom, secure from the pests purveying contradictory thoughts. Our Unification of Thought is more powerful a weapon than any fleet or army on earth. We are one people. With one will, one resolve, one cause. Our enemies shall talk themselves to death and we will bury them with their own confusion. We shall prevail!"

    ...now delivered to millions on an iPhone.

    --
    Never shake hands with a man you meet in a fertility clinic.
  8. Re:Holy fagioli... by Silentknyght · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And this app was approved by Apple?

    I applaud Apple for releasing it. If Apple rejected it just because they don't like what its content, that would be censure and they would be no better that the Chinese government.

    Wait, are we talking about the same Apple that censors everything else that goes on the iphone just because they don't like its content?

  9. Apple won't approve of some apps domestically by phorest · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Cartoonist Tom Richmond was very excited about his new iPhone application project: He was approached to contribute cartoon caricatures of members of Congress for an app that would allow users to locate and contact their representatives using zipcodes and/or the iPhone's GPS capabilities. But then Apple rejected the app, after Richmond had done all 540 caricatures, claiming that "it contains content that ridicules public figures and is in violation of Section 3.3.14 from the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement."

    From Here

    --
    God: When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all.
  10. Big Bird by MickyTheIdiot · · Score: 3, Funny

    That's what Monica called Bill, anyway.

  11. Re:Holy fagioli... by Beelzebud · · Score: 2, Interesting

    http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/09/apple-denied-health-care-app-for-political-reasons-developer-says/ Too late for that idea...

  12. Re:Holy fagioli... by thannine · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Are you trolling, or just being ignorant? If Apple censors one kind of political propaganda, but accepts other kinds, the accepting others makes things WORSE, not better. You see, if they deny all political content, fine, they just want to be un-political. If they want to decide which propaganda is OK (or if they're getting paid to accept certain propaganda), that's the worst kind of censorship. And we should congratulate them for this?