Bid to control sites:

Asia

Chinese authorities are exploring new ways of imposing controls on the Internet, state-run media cited experts as saying Monday, after reports said state-owned enterprises may be encouraged to take stakes in video streaming websites.

The Communist country restricts access to foreign websites including Google, Facebook and Twitter with a vast control network dubbed the Great Firewall of China, and under President Xi Jinping it has tightened its grip on broadcast, print and online media.

Content deemed politically sensitive, violent or morally “unhealthy” is regularly blocked.

New regulations being considered by China’s censorship authority would allow a select list of SOEs to buy “special management stakes” of up to 10 percent in the country’s popular video streaming websites, giving them the right to oversee production and decision-making, respected business magazine Caixin reported.

The Chinese-language report was later removed from Caixin’s own website, although the text was widely reposted elsewhere.

Video sites such as Youku Tudou, acquired last year by tech giant Alibaba for an estimated $4.8 billion, and Baidu’s iQiyi.com could be affected, with greater scrutiny over content and potential modifications to in-house productions. (AFP)