Because the government of China is shithouse rat insane (the citizens are some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet though, absolutely lovely) the Ministry of Culture has decided to ban songs by Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Backstreet Boys from the country, and have instilled a policy where all songs need to be translated first and submitted to the ministry before they can be allowed into the country. Seriously? Seriously! CBC reports:
Officially, imported albums and songs are to be translated and then submitted to the Chinese government for approval before distribution online. According to China’s Global Times, a 2009 directive sought out to ban songs deemed to have “poor taste and vulgar content,” as well as those violating copyrights. The ministry said 100 songs have not been submitted for approval. Included on the list of offending music are Lady Gaga’s The Edge of Glory (among her six appearances on the blacklist), Katy Perry’s Last Friday Night, Beyoncé’s Run the World (Girls) as well as older chart-toppers, like the 1999 Backstreet Boys hit I Want It That Way.
Here’s the thing: Some of these songs I really don’t want to hear. If they never appeared on the radio again, I wouldn’t really mind. That being said, that’s not my call. My personal beliefs and thoughts and opinions are exactly that: personal. People are smart enough to decide for themselves what is and isn’t right for them, so honestly, censorship is at best, a really needless waste of tax dollars for an ineffectual system since there’s the Internet and you can pretty much find anything and everything for free on there.
