NowYouSeeIt,NowYouCant!.docVIP

Now You See It, Now You Can’t! —— 《上海学生英文报》高中基础 (2327 ·头版 Like a magician’s disappearing trick (“Now you see it, now you don’t.”), five popular Chinese-made dramas vanished from the Internet last month. But it was no magic trick—their streaming (播放) was stopped by government censors (审查员). The censors considered the dramas—one of which had drawn over two billion views—inappropriate for Chinese audiences. (Now you see it, now you can’t!) What upset the censors was that the dramas were stories about unconventional love relationships, stories about the supernatural, or other stories that aimed to shock the audience by what the characters said and did. And that was the purpose of the producers: they wanted the dramas to be sensational as a way of attracting a bigger audience by showing things that could not be shown on broadcast TV. So the censors stepped in and now video websites such as (优酷) and (爱奇艺) will have to follow the same rules as broadcast TV. The subject of censorship is a controversial one and an ancient one. In Roman times, the censor was a government official in charge of public morality (道德规范). It was his job to make sure that written works and public performances did not violate the rules of Roman society. Today, all countries have some censorship. In China, which is still a conservative society by and large (大体上), censorship rules are very strict. In America, which is considered a more tolerant society, there is no official government censor. A court will respond to complaints and decide if something should be blocked or deleted. A moderate degree of media censorship might be beneficial. It can help ensure young people are not exposed to bad influences. But too much censorship can lead to people losing trust in the media because it no longer accurately reflects the world around them. Excessive censorship may also crush creativity and individual expression. But as producers can hardly find a magician to make censorship disappear, they migh