Tencent program defends Joy of Life on demand and apologizes for inappropriate title and viewpoints

Recently, Tencent and iQiyi launched the "VVIP" service for the hit domestic drama "Joy of Life", which aroused strong dissatisfaction among netizens. However, last Friday, Tencent News' original column "News Brother" defended this matter, and the title and views were quite radical.

The article titled "Chinese people don't deserve to have a spiritual life! Not worthy!" stated, "Why can't good content be charged for? Do people who create content deserve to die in poverty?" and "Regarding the VVIP issue of "Joy of Life", it's not true that 50 yuan is too expensive, but it's true that they don't want to spend a penny", which sparked heated discussions on the Internet.

Early this morning, Tencent's "News Brother" issued an apology statement, saying that all members of the team will reflect deeply, take this as a warning, and live up to everyone's expectations.

"News Brother" said that the article was seriously inappropriate in terms of title, viewpoints and wording, and that it had recognized the mistake and deleted the article. At the same time, the article does not represent Tencent's attitude in the "Joy of Life" video membership incident. Previously, the Tencent Video team had reflected on and explained this.

"News Brother" announced that it would replace the person in charge of the official account and suspend the editor of this article. At the same time, it would optimize and improve the editing process of the official account to ensure that such incidents would not happen again.

Full statement:

We were wrong, we are sorry!

Recently, we published a seriously inappropriate article titled "Chinese People's Spiritual Life". In this regard, we make the following explanation and solemnly apologize:

1. The title, viewpoints and wording of this article are all seriously inappropriate. We recognize the mistake and have deleted the article. We apologize to everyone!

2. This article does not represent Tencent’s attitude towards the “Joy of Life” video membership incident. Previously, the Tencent Video team has reflected on and explained this.

The "News Brother" team has initiated a comprehensive self-examination and self-correction, and has imposed the following penalties:

1. Effective immediately, the person in charge of the official account will be replaced, and the editors of this article will be suspended.

2. Optimize and improve the editing and review process of the official account to ensure that such incidents do not occur again.

The entire "News Brother" team will reflect deeply, take this as a warning, and live up to everyone's expectations. Please believe us, we apologize deeply again!