Media and Politics in China

 

    Throughout the blogs, it has been clear to see that no matter what region of the world, mass media plays a crucial role in the overall level of democracy and political and social freedom that a state and its citizens have. The role of media is to provide the public with an informed, nonbiased stance on what is taking place within and outside of the country both politically and socially in order to hold the government and politicians accountable to their behavior and actions. This week, we will be covering the relationship that the media and politics have within China, which is a very interesting case as it is a state that has continuously struggled to upkeep human rights and freedoms for their over 1.41 billion population. 

    China has been known to be rather restrictive of what its citizens can and cannot see on social media, as well as what they can and cannot post. For the most part, absolutely everything is monitored by the government in order to mitigate and restrict what the people see, post, and share with others. By monitoring such behavior, the government is able to regulate what information gets out to the public in order to mitigate the spread of harmful news and knowledge of mistreatment and honesty. Throughout China, the government is extremely involved in the media and knows exactly what the public will see and hear in order to cater it to their likings and their benefits. The public is subject to only seeing one side of things typically due to the lack in different opinions and views in fear of discipline and criminal charges.

    Studies have shown that the people who do get involved in media and interact with one another, "increases people's public issue involvement and thus their internal political efficacy," that has the ability to create genuine change throughout the population (Han). By people becoming informed to the realities of their situation and surroundings, more people will be able to spread the news and grow their bravery to possibly speak up against what is right versus wrong. China's population is the second largest in the world and if angered enough by the lack of transparency and continuous violations of human rights by the government, could I'm sure create quite some change if enough citizens gather to speak out. It is rather disheartening to see the continuous struggles that the media and politics have with one another throughout China and how unfair and biased it all is; however, hopefully in the years to come there will be some positive change as technology continues to increase in usage.

Han, R. (2024, September 13). How social media use affects internal political efficacy in China: The mediating effects of social network interaction. Nature News. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-024-03748-1