I spent most of my life living and studying in Singapore (where the Netlix’s APEC headquarter is located), watching shows on netflix almost felt like a natural part of life — something we simply took for granted?
In 2019, I returned to China for an eight-month-long holiday after completing my ‘A’ Levels, I realised Netflix is not officially available back home… criessss
Netflix’s Presence in China
Netflix is available in over 190 countries, but not in China. This is because foreign media content is heavily monitored in China to ensure it aligns with cultural, political, and social standards. Hence Companies like Netflix need special licenses to operate, and their content must comply with regulations on censorship.
On the other hand, China has very established domestic streaming platforms like Tencent Video, IQIYI and Youku, almost dominating the market. Thus making Netflix extremely challenging to enter the market.
So Netflix chose a different approach: It licensed some of the shows to Chinese streaming platforms that aligned with Chinese cultural and political expectations.
‘Stranger Things’ available on IQIYI’ ^
How Do People Watch Netflix Content in China
2019 was when ‘Sex Education’ gained viral popularity, and there was no way for China to allow shows with LGBT and teenage sex content to stream on Chinese platforms. I was already watching the show halfway back in Singapore, so I had to find a way to access it.
VPNs, also known as Virtual Private Networks, are the go-to solutions for people who study/work overseas to access restricted foreign platforms in China, including Google, emails, and, of course, Netflix.
How it works: VPNs allow users to bypass China’s internet restrictions – the Great Firewall and access Netflix as if they were in another country.
This is the VPN I currently have on my phone and laptop. There are various country network routes for you to select and connect to. If I want to access the Singapore library of content for Netflix, I simply connect to the Singapore Route. However, you will have to pay for most of these VPNs, and they are not always stable.
It’s like a cat-and-mouse game. China is realising the issue with VPNs and is actively monitoring and blocking these applications. Thus, no one VPN can work consistently.
> Just look at how many of them I’ve downloaded over the past few years in my app store...
Creative Alternatives to consume Netflix content
‘视频搬运’ (video reposting) and ‘解说’ (commentary) on social media platforms like Bilibili, Xiaohongshu and Douyin have emerged as popular methods for audiences to consume global media content while navigating local restrictions.
‘视频搬运’ is a process of people downloading foreign content from platforms like Netflix or YouTube and re-uploading it to Chinese social media platforms. These uploads are often edited to remove sensitive content and add Chinese subtitles that comply with the local regulatory requirements.
> A video repost of ‘Oppenheimer’ on Xiaohongshu
‘解说’, on the other hand, provides summarised versions with comments on foreign content. Creators usually edit the key moments of the show together to tell the entire story in a condensed 5-10-minute video. In this case, the audience does not need to watch the entire show to understand its main narrative.
> A commentary of an episode of ‘Sex Education’ on Bilibili
A Critical Political Economy Perspective
“Who can say what, in what form, to whom, for what purposes, and with what effect are determined by and in part determine the structure of economic, political, and cultural power in a society”
Nicholas Garnham
All these alternatives to viewing foreign content can be viewed through the lens of the critical political economy of communication, which emphasizes how power structures shape the production, distribution, and consumption of media. These are typical examples of how local audiences in China navigate through these power dynamics, altering global media content into formats that align with their restricted environment.
Some Final thoughts
While these alternative solutions to access global media content highlight the ingenuity of how Chinese audiences navigate and overcome local restrictions, they also raise concerns about intellectual property and media ethics. I guess this is where it also sheds light on the complex relationship between cultural exchange, regulation, and media economics in a globalized yet fragmented media landscape.