MOSCOW, September 4 (RIA Novosti) – China will impose a cap on foreign TV programs streaming online, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.
According to Bloomberg, the new regulations will curtail foreign TV content to just 30 percent of the overall content that a video-streaming website will be allowed to contain.
The restrictive policies will immediately concern Sohu.com Inc. and Youku Tudou Inc. (YOKU), which possess licenses to provide their consumers with free streaming of shows from the US, Europe and South Korea.
Representatives from both companies refused to comment on the matter, Bloomberg reports, as did China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, which is believed to be responsible for the new regulations.
Bloomberg suggests that the upcoming restrictions are part of a broader government campaign directed at tightening internet control.
In April China suspended four U.S. TV shows, including “The Good Wife” and “The Big Bang Theory", from being aired on video websites. The purported reason for the ban was the “negative impact on society”, Bloomberg reports.
