China passes proposal to control private investment in media: Reports

In an attempt to control the media, the Chinese government has passed a proposal to ban private investment in the communist nation’s news outlets. Posted on the website of China’s National Development and Reform Commission this month, the draft guidelines suggested that the media companies were banned from seeking private investments. China's proposal includes a ban on running news operations or republishing news produced by the foreign media outlets such as the ones from the United States. Journalists in the Chinese media outlets have shunned the government’s proposal, saying that the PRC is making attempts to silence the opposition voices and criticism.

“The Communist nation is making an attempt to place all information and commentary exhibits below its personal management. All totally different voices have been eradicated,” Wu Zuolai, a Chinese language political commentator, told VOA. 

Proposal earns backlash as 'decline of media freedom'

The proposal sparked debate across several Chinese media platforms, including Zhihu, where a banner stated, “Limiting the function of the media will distort public opinions, and native governments would possibly implement the rule with extraordinarily strict measures.” China’s efforts to limit the non-public funding in the media has attracted widespread backlash as experts believe that the measure if approved into law, will result in the additional decline of media freedom within the communist nation. Chinese media and newspapers are largely funded through the general public sector as well as overseas funding. 

VOA quoted the critics on Chinese social media platforms as condemning the PRC’s move, as one comment read that the recent proposal could hamper the rights of “anyone holding a microphone asking for your opinions on the street in the future.” China ranks 177th out of 180 countries on the annual index by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) with respect to media freedom. 

Earlier similarly, with an aim to encourage masculinity, China banned men it considers "effeminate" from appearing on state television to promote its "revolutionary culture" among the people of the country. The decision was announced as officials believed that Chinese pop stars and their fans are emulating skinny, seeing the popularity of South Korean and Japanese singers who are not considered masculine enough. The country’s National Radio and TV Administration made the announcement regarding the ban on "sissy men and other abnormal esthetics".