Congressman Mark Green reintroduces bill to stop Chinese censorship of American-produced films

CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Rep. Mark Green, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, has reintroduced the “Stopping Communist Regimes from Engaging in Edits Now (SCREEN) Act,” which discourages Hollywood from catering to Beijing censorship.

“When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took over China, it destroyed a beautiful and rich Chinese culture. Now, the CCP is trying to influence American culture – we must not let them. My SCREEN Act will prevent Hollywood studios that allow CCP officials to edit their films from receiving certain assistance from the State Department. We must safeguard the freedom of expression in the United States, whether it be in the arts, journalism or politics,” Green told Clarksville Now.

The bill prevents the federal government from assisting American studios with the production of a film if that film is co-produced by a Chinese company.

“Since I introduced the SCREEN Act in the 117th Congress, the Communist Chinese Party has escalated attempts to censor free speech in the United States. The CCP will not make our film industry an arm of its propaganda machine,” Green said.

“One bright spot in Hollywood is the way Paramount stood up to the CCP when asked to censor Top Gun: Maverick. Now, this film has been nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars and was the highest grossing domestic release of 2022. We need more studios willing to put Beijing in its place. My legislation will create the incentive for more Hollywood studios to take a stand against Communist China.”

The measure also requires film companies receiving production assistance from the Department of State to report to Congress previous films that have been substantially edited by the CCP and then bans the federal government from assisting these studios if they have edited a film for the CCP.

“Many high-budget films rely on help from the U.S. government for filming and technical assistance; with my legislation, this assistance will no longer be available if these studios kowtow to Beijing. American studios shouldn’t be creating CCP propaganda, and if they choose to do so, they shouldn’t be receiving help from the U.S. government to do it.”

Further, the bill ensures studios provide written agreements pledging not to censor their own films at the request of the CCP prior to receiving any technical assistance or access to assets from the Department of State.