We asked artists in China about censorship. Here’s what they told us.
We asked artists in China about censorship. Here’s what they told us.
We asked artists in China about censorship. Here’s what they told us. — Repro Uncensored
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/51083573
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We interviewed artists in China about censorship and self-censorship in artistic practice, focusing on how uncertainty, social expectations, and platform governance shape what can be expressed and how [...] The following interview is with “Chen” (pseudonym), with additional reflections from “Lin” and “Mei” (pseudonyms), artists and filmmakers based in China. Pseudonyms are used to protect the contributors given the sensitivities surrounding censorship and cultural expression.
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Censorship in China today often looks less like a single ‘no’ and more like a system of friction—paperwork, platforms, and an atmosphere that trains people to anticipate consequences. On the official side, it can be very practical: scripts that need to be filed, shoots that need permits, locations that suddenly become ‘not possible,’ or a project that can’t move forward without approvals for legal production and public release. I’ve seen peers rewrite scenes not because anyone gave a clear order, but because one vague comment—‘this might be sensitive’—is enough to reshape the whole plan.
On the platform side, it’s quieter: posts disappear, keywords stop returning results, accounts get limited, comments get turned off, conversations get ‘cleaned up.’ And then there’s the social layer—the phone call, the ‘friendly reminder,’ the suggestion not to forward something, the way collaborators suddenly prefer not to put things in writing. In my experience, the most powerful part isn’t always the explicit rule—it’s the uncertainty. When the boundary keeps moving, self-censorship becomes a default.”
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Self-censorship doesn’t feel like a single restriction; it becomes part of the creative method itself. Ideas are not necessarily removed, but redirected into metaphor, atmosphere, or indirect storytelling so they can exist within the social environment they come from.
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[Self-censorship] affects how we imagine a work from the start—what tone to use, how visible a message should be, or how long it might realistically circulate. In that sense, self-censorship becomes less about silence and more about calibration, a way of adjusting expression so it can remain present rather than disappear entirely.
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You also see people seeking international co-production or overseas support to keep a [film] project finishable and screenable, or choosing to shoot outside the country when locations, permits, or subject matter make domestic production risky or impossible. At the same time, many keep crews small and protect collaborators, because the pressure isn’t only about the film—it can also be about who gets exposed.
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What I notice is that cultural change in China often comes down to what becomes visible and rewarded. Everyday life is shaped by policy, platforms, and markets, and what doesn’t fit those systems becomes harder to keep in public view.
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