Film ‘Together’ Faces Censorship in china as AI Alters LGBTQIA+ Content
BEIJING – Dave Franco’s film Together, featuring a queer couple, has reportedly been altered by distributors in China using artificial intelligence to remove LGBTQIA+ content, sparking concerns about escalating censorship of queer portrayal. The alterations highlight a long history of targeting LGBTQIA+ themes in film, both in China and internationally.
According to reports, AI was used to modify scenes depicting the relationship, raising fears that this practice could become normalized and further diminish the visibility of LGBTQIA+ communities in the country.Dr. Lin Song,a researcher of LGBTQIA+ cultures in China,expressed worry that film distributors may increasingly rely on AI to erase queer themes due to its lower cost.
“Once this becomes normalised, I do see this as an even bigger threat to the more public representations of queerness in China,” Dr. Song stated.
The censorship echoes past instances of LGBTQIA+ content being suppressed. In 1995, films were pulled from a Tasmanian film festival while homosexuality remained illegal in the state until 1997. In 2013, actor James Franco, brother of Dave Franco, publicly criticized the Australian Film Classification Board for banning a film featuring graphic sex scenes involving a gay couple.
April, a Chinese international student who identifies as bisexual, expressed her disapproval of the AI alterations. “I think love is love – so I think I don’t think [that] this situation is ok,” she said. Triple j Hack has withheld April’s real name to protect her from potential stigma within her family and social circles in China.
Though, April’s friend, Lily, suggested that attitudes among younger Chinese viewers are evolving. “I think it’s getting better from the younger generation, we feel that if you love one person, it doesn’t matter what [their] gender is,” she noted.
The incident with *Together underscores ongoing challenges faced by LGBTQIA+ communities in China, who have historically utilized coded language online to connect due to censorship. The use of AI to alter film content represents a perhaps significant escalation in these restrictions.
