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Government Cellphones The Media Your Rights Online

China Lauds iPhone App That Spreads Gov't Views 158

Posted by timothy 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."
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China Lauds iPhone App That Spreads Gov't Views More

China Lauds iPhone App That Spreads Gov't Views

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  • Propaganda (Score:5, Funny)

    by Blue Stone ( 582566 ) on Wednesday November 11, 2009 @04:10PM (#30064944) Homepage Journal

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

    • Re:Propaganda (Score:5, Insightful)

      by fuzzyfuzzyfungus ( 1223518 ) on Wednesday November 11, 2009 @04:14PM (#30064980) Journal
      Why yes, indeed there is! [appsafari.com]...

      • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

        by Shakrai ( 717556 )

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

        • Re:Propaganda (Score:5, Funny)

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 11, 2009 @04:23PM (#30065084)

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

          • Re: (Score:1, Informative)

            by Anonymous Coward

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

            Hah, Non-Americans

            (Quick aside: The United States is a better fitting term for us than "Americans". There's two Americas, North and South America.. Our hat [Canada] and our beard [South America] often take umbrage to being lumped in with us)

            Like to think that they have some control over their home respective countries. They like to think that they are being represented by their governments, and that their interest is first and foremost. When it comes down to it, the rich and the elite people rule the world.

            • Our hat [Canada] and our beard [South America] often take umbrage to being lumped in with us)

              Silly, South America is not the beard. Mexico is the beard. South America is the torso and tail (you do know the Americas are a bearded mermaid, not a biped, right?)

              To be fair, Canada's not really the hat, either. It's more like the hair, with an ugly growth of the skull sticking out (Alaska). The Caribbean islands are the spittle flecks on the side of our spitoon (the Atlantic).

              Wait, couldn't we just do a c

              • To be fair, Canada's not really the hat, either. It's more like the hair, with an ugly growth of the skull sticking out (Alaska). The Caribbean islands are the spittle flecks on the side of our spitoon (the Atlantic).

                I always though Alaska was a dick. I mean it is lead by a cunt right?

              • Certainly USA is a once beautiful long since neglected car, one of those massive land yachts that got a 1/2 mile to the gallon, broken down on the side of the road. Canada is a high performance Ferrari driven by a platinum blond supermodel. And Mexico is a rickshaw.

                Disclaimer: I am Canadian.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by abigor ( 540274 )

              Since when is a hat larger than the body it's attached to?

              • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

                by Anonymous Coward

                You've never been to Texas, have you?

            • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

              by jmac_the_man ( 1612215 )
              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.

          • Re: (Score:1, Insightful)

            by Anonymous Coward
            But it's true! We have the Theocratic Fascists on one side and the Plutocratic Fascists on the other...

        • Don't you mean FOX news?

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Shakrai ( 717556 )

            The parent of my post mentioned Fox. My counterpoint was that MSNBC is Fox News for Democrats. Watch Keith Olbermann sometime. All you have to do to convert him to Sean Hannity is change his talking points around a bit.

            • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

              by Beelzebud ( 1361137 )
              Yeah and MSNBC also gave that liberal Joe Scarborough a morning show, and features liberal commentator Pat Buchanan about 12 hours each day.

            • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

              by pluther ( 647209 )

              There is a significant difference in that MSNBC does not take the things its commentators, like Olbermann, say and then report them as news in its news segments.

            • All you have to do to convert him to Sean Hannity is change his talking points around a bit.

              I think he'd need a lobotomy to make it a fair comparison to Hannity.

              Of all people, Shakrai, I didn't expect to hear moral equivalence coming from you.

    • Old News (Score:2, Interesting)

      by SuperKendall ( 25149 )

      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. [barackobama.com] Important "news" from our Dear Leader!

      • Re: (Score:1, Informative)

        by Shakrai ( 717556 )

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

        You forgot to mention the part where they wanted citizens to "help us out" by reporting dissent [brutallyhonest.org] directly to the White House. I guess they gave up on that idea though. Wonder what would have been the reaction if GWB had tried to do the same thing?

        • Re:Old News (Score:4, Insightful)

          by FlyingSquidStudios ( 1031284 ) on Wednesday November 11, 2009 @05:14PM (#30065714)
          Because, of course, that never happened when he was in office [wikipedia.org], right?

          • TIPS sent data to law enforcement

            Flag@WhiteHouse.Gov sent data to the President directly (or basically a group he controls).

            You figure out for yourself which is more concerning. That law enforcement is being sent data about potential security issues, or that citizens are being reported for not properly adhering to NewSpeak.

            Scenario to work through: News report that disagrees with presidents report on stimulus numbers. You report to TIPS - nothing happens. But you can and were supposed to report to FLAG

        • You forgot to mention the part where they wanted citizens to "help us out" by reporting dissent [brutallyhonest.org] directly to the White House.

          Dissent and disinformation are not the same thing.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Shakrai ( 717556 )

            The only disinformation I see is coming from the Democrats. Illegal immigrants won't be covered under the health bill? Yes they will -- at the ER for free just as they currently do. If you already have insurance you can keep it? No you can't. The Government is going to tell the insurance companies what kind of policies they have to sell. Want a high-deductible plan and HSA or flex spending account? Sorry, your out of luck. We aren't going to let you do that.

            The only redeeming thing is that it isn't

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by MickyTheIdiot ( 1032226 )

        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.

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by KillShill ( 877105 )

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

    • It's a pity that Apple's notorious approval process didn't kill this propaganda.

  • And this app was approved by Apple? I mean, sure, Apple can do whatever they want on their playground, I guess, even be douchebags.

    • Re:Holy fagioli... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Nahor ( 41537 ) on Wednesday November 11, 2009 @04:28PM (#30065160)

      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.

      • Re:Holy fagioli... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Silentknyght ( 1042778 ) on Wednesday November 11, 2009 @04:39PM (#30065328)

        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?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Nahor ( 41537 )

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

          All the more reasons to applaud when they do NOT censure.

          • They're only doing this for the money, so it's not really something to applaud. Do you think the Chinese government allowed this to happen because they didn't want it to happen? This was intentional, and it's obvious people got paid to make it happen.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by Nahor ( 41537 )

              They're only doing this for the money, so it's not really something to applaud. Do you think the Chinese government allowed this to happen because they didn't want it to happen? This was intentional, and it's obvious people got paid to make it happen.

              What ever the "why", they did the right thing by not censoring the app. I applaud that.

              If they did it for the wrong reasons (very likely), then next time they may do the wrong thing (again). Then I'll boo them (and I'm sure it will happen sooner than later).

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by mgblst ( 80109 )

            All the more reasons to applaud when they do NOT censure.
            Yes, just as we should we applaud people for not stabbing us, or shooting us, or kicking people in the head.

          • I can't agree on that one. If they're censoring then on principle that's bad as a whole.

            However if they're being selective about it and STILL allowing the political propaganda of the world's worst human rights violators yet turning things down like Google Voice or an NES Emulator, then I cry foul.

            They shouldn't be doing it in the first place, but if you're going to do it at least do it right. Kinda like a benevolent dictator. I don't want a dictator in the first place - regardless of intentions, but you

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by mgblst ( 80109 )

          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?
          Yes, this is the only App available for the iPhone, because Apple has censored every single other application in the world.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Nahor ( 41537 )

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

          Just because they did censure another app, doesn't mean we shouldn't congratulate them when they do NOT censure. Quite the contrary.

          • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

            by thannine ( 576719 )
            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?

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by Nahor ( 41537 )

              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.

              To me, it makes rejecting others kinds more unacceptable. But accepting is always a good thing.

              If one was to follow your principle and rejected a propaganda once and he would never be able to accept any propaganda ever after and would never be able to mend his way.

              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.

              I agree with that. But the "worst" is in the rejection of the other propaganda, not in the acceptation of some.

              So they should be congratulated for accepting CCTV. But next time they reject an app on the ground that it's propaganda, then we should

      • 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.

        So, Apple doesn't have a problem with government propaganda, as long as it does not show a bare breast or include a four-letter word.

        Good to know their priorities are in order.

      • Disproving of content is a big thing for Apple, apparently. NIN app rejected due to profanity, even though song is available on iTunes unedited [rollingstone.com]
  • There's an app for that!

  • Needlessly alarmist (Score:5, Insightful)

    by CoolGuySteve ( 264277 ) on Wednesday November 11, 2009 @04:24PM (#30065106)

    "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.

    • The BBC isn't state owned. Anyone with a television is forced to pay the license fee, by law, which is basically tax, but they have no government control.

      • NPR (Score:2)

        by Fished ( 574624 )
        Yeah, right. Next you're going to tell me that NPR isn't part of a vast left-wing conspiracy controlled by Barack Obama and Big Bird! (Big Bird is a euphemism for Bill Clinton.)

      • The Government have been known to manipulate the BBC trust when the head of the BBC is to critical of bullshit inquiries that say nobody lied in the run up to war. The BBC's charter is also periodically renewed by the government who could (but don't) say that they need to be more supportive of goverment initiatives.

        I mean in practice the BBC isn't state run media, but in theory they are.

        • The BBC would be totally nonfunctional as a party mouthpiece. It's not the same as Chinese state media at all.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by JackDW ( 904211 )
        In a sense, the BBC controls the Government(!), because it has a major influence on how the Government's activities are reported to the people. If you want to stay in power, it's important to appease big media, and in Britain that's Rupert Murdoch and the BBC. We are fortunate that Murdoch and the BBC have little in common.

      • No, you're not required to pay for the licence fee if you own a TV. You only need it if you wish to watch LIVE broadcasts, using it for watching DVDs/connecting to your games console etc is fine if that's all you do.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by slimjim8094 ( 941042 )

      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.

      • Re:Needlessly alarmist (Score:5, Insightful)

        by CoolGuySteve ( 264277 ) on Wednesday November 11, 2009 @05:11PM (#30065686)

        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.

    • Nowm I'm not actually bothered by the Chinese app, I'm all for plurality of opinion. But your analogy is poor. The BBC is not directly funded or controlled by the government, there aren't a growing number (or any?) state-owned news outlets. Apart from that - spot on.

  • ...And nothing of value was gained?

  • I thought people were in agreement that Chinese iPhone sales were dismal?

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by oldspewey ( 1303305 )
      Yes, but now that the Chinese people will be purchasing them under communist party decree, sales should pick up nicely.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Jaysyn ( 203771 )

        If the Chinese were truly communist there would be no sales to pick up.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by skeeto ( 1138903 )
        That's how The Little Red Book (Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong [wikipedia.org]) became the most widely printed book in the world. "The book's phenomenal popularity may be due to the fact that it was essentially an unofficial requirement for every Chinese citizen to own, to read, and to carry it at all times during the later half of Mao's rule, especially during the Cultural Revolution."
    • China has several iphones clones that appear to now run the same apps. So, shortly sales of iphone clones will overwhelm iphones sales with the gov. approval.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mgblst ( 80109 )

      So as soon as somebody writes about something on their blog, how does that translate to people being in agreement? You realize there aren't just two people in the world, you and everyone else? Most people grow out of this phase at about 4 years old.

  • ugh (Score:2)

    by vvaduva ( 859950 )

    "The government statement also said promotion of the CCTV app on Apple's Web site in China was helpful for its user growth. The Apple site includes the CCTV and China Daily products on a list of recommended apps. "

    A red Apple, a hammer and a sickle...why do they operate in groups of three? One can read, one can write and one to keep an eye on the two intellectuals.

  • Double standard? (Score:4, Informative)

    by Beelzebud ( 1361137 ) on Wednesday November 11, 2009 @04:34PM (#30065250)
    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?

  • Oh, the irony... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by DieByWire ( 744043 ) on Wednesday November 11, 2009 @04:39PM (#30065326)

    "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.

  • Not sure why anyone would be shocked by this.

  • Apple won't approve of some apps domestically (Score:5, Interesting)

    by phorest ( 877315 ) on Wednesday November 11, 2009 @04:42PM (#30065370) Journal

    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 [politico.com]

  • that they are getting 2000 new subscribers a day...because they are forced to.

    I suppose they could also claim that millions are becoming communists too (birth rate, you know).
  • Hasn't Apple blocked apps for political reasons? Shouldn't this app be blocked then? Honestly, I'm surprised that it wasn't required to be included on the device.

  • 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 of contradictory and confusing truths. Our Unification of Thoughts 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 prev

  • Will have to look this one up when I get home. I enjoy CCTV9, and its, um, interesting take on international events. Plus, I just get tickled watching any international commercials! And their learn chinese language shows are actually pretty good.

  • ...that the name of the Chinese broadcaster is the same as that of the UK surveillance camera network?

    That's a fitting new association, isn't it? ^^

  • FTFA:

    "In 1984, the iconic American company ran a popular commercial for its new Macintosh computers that said the machines would show users "why 1984 won't be like '1984,' " a reference to the George Orwell book about a society ruled by a mind-controlling regime. "

    Wow. Talk about shooting one's self in the foot..... But then again, what do you expect from a company that strives to maintain COMPLETE control of their products?

    So where are the Apple Fanbois on this one?

    • "So where are the Apple Fanbois on this one?"

      Probably busy ignoring your post. It has been pointed out above that the app that everyone is so excited about is simply government TV being streamed to the iPhone.

      As for Apple maintaining complete control over their products, whatever. You can go ahead and install Windows on your computer and have Microsoft maintain complete control over your products.

  • How many points do I score for guessing that the majority of this howling chorus have never even watched as much as 1 second of CCTV's programs? This is just some idiots that - once again - want to whip up some anti-Chinese sentiment, to prevent bad things from happening in case people start thinking on their own. I mean, that is how the people of America have been conned for decades, and why your education system is constantly under threat from "religious" groups; that is why Americans automatically think

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