China issues mandate to online quiz shows

ONLINE quiz shows that have surged in popularity in China must not promote extravagance or sensationalism and should instead spread healthy, beneficial knowledge, the country’s media and publication regulator said.

Up to 6 million people at a time log into the free, live games on their smartphones to answer a series of rapid-fire questions in an elimination battle, with those remaining sharing the prize money.

The trivia games have drawn some controversy, heightened by a broader crackdown on online content during the past year under President Xi Jinping, from live streams and blogs to a campaign against internet addiction.

The State Administration of Press, Publication,

Radio, Film and Television said in a notice released on Wednesday that the content of some of the quizzes were little more than click-bait, with “vulgar and tawdry” content.

These platforms could not promote “mammonism, extravagance, or sensationalism”, nor could they feature excessive marketing during shows, the regulator said.

Instead, they needed to encourage healthy, beneficial knowledge that promoted core socialist values, it said.

Both the platform and its anchors must have proper qualifications and be morally upstanding, the released notice said. – Reuters