Chinese TV Channel Banned from Showing Eurovision After Censoring Pride Flag

The Chinese TV channel Mango TV is in hot water for it’s broadcast of Eurovision 2018. The channel apparently blurred out rainbow flags during the semi-final performances of the competition. They also censored tattoos and didn’t air the performances from the Irish and Albanian artists.

The European Broadcasting Union, the organization that hosts Eurovision, announced that the censorship issue went against the groups values of diversity. Consequently, EBU has banned Mango TV from airing the remainder of the competition.

“It is with regret that we will therefore immediately be terminating our partnership with the broader and they will not be permitted to broadcast the second Semi-Final or the Grand Final,” EBU said in a statement.

According to theBBC, some users on Weibo, which is the Chinese equivalent to Twitter, called for a boycott to Mango TV. Coincidentally, Weibo itself recently received backlash when they announced that they would ban gay content on the platform a decision that was quickly reversed.

The censored Irish contestant, Ryan O’Shaughnessy, spoke to BBC and agreed with EBU’s decision. His song about a relationship ending was accompanied by two male dancers, which could potentially be the reason for the censorship.

“From the very start we’ve said love is love – whether it’s between two guys, two girls or a guy and a girl so I think this is a really important decision,” O’Shaughnessy told BBC. “They haven’t taken this lightly and I think it’s a move in the right direction so I’m happy about it.”

The Grand Final of Eurovision will take place this Saturday, May 12th. For an added bonus, you can find commentary from Shangela and Ross Matthews on Logo! I know where I’ll be watching.