Thread by @billbirtles

So I thought it was BS that China’s govt broadcaster was censoring shots of fans at the World Cup due to lockdown anger back home. But it’s true.
Here are live feeds from SBS & CCTV (which has a 32 second delay). As ⁦@DreyerChina⁩ explained, CCTV avoids crowd close ups:

Here’s the Canadian goal from the same match. The int’l feed everyone else gets shows fans close up. CCTV switches out those shots with feeds of coaches or wide shots. Watched 2 games - very obvious. It’s imperfect though - one cheering fans shot snuck through in the replay:

So the usual suspects will claim that China’s govt TV CCTV isn’t censoring crowd close ups because a few shots do get through… or they choose to use different shots 🤔… but it is very clear. Although a mate in Beijing told me he hadn’t noticed anything unusual 😂

Great minds think alike, although Mark was on to it way earlier than me (as were the people who posted the initial comparison videos)

https://twitter.com/dreyerchina/status/1596921122334703618