China Purging Explicit and Illegal Ads From TV

China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has announced its plans to enforce stricter rules and regulations on the what advertisements will be allowed to air on television and when. The goal of this action is to make Chinese television more pure and appropriate for the public.

The ads being specifically targeted are ones that make strong unsubstantiated claims on the efficiency of medicines and anything with "explicit" content. One of the biggest problems for China is that many of the commercials for medicines have been licensed, meaning they are approved for television. The problem arises when the claims of these licensed ads are altered prior to airing to misguide the viewers, which is then illegal.

Because of these issues China will step up monitoring of ads that may a "negative social impact" on Chinese society. As part of the tougher controls on advertisements, those deemed controversial will only be allowed to air before and after prime time; these include ads featuring medicines and feminine hygiene products. Commercials being even more limited are those for female undergarments which will be restricted to airing only at midnight.

Already nearly 30 Chinese radio and television broadcasters have together released a self-discipline agreement promising to comply with regulations in an effort to better society as a whole. If any broadcasting stations do not abide by these tighter rules by removing or making the necessary changes to ads that are vulgar or break the law more than three times in 60 days will face suspension on their ability to air and prospectively lose their license to air, among other punishments.