The Deleted 4 Minutes: "You Can Erase a Video, But Not the Event" — The Critical Point of "Editing and Permission" Revealed by Reuters' Retraction

Reuters reported on September 6 that a four-minute video, which included a conversation between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin about longevity picked up during a military parade in Beijing, was deleted after CCTV withdrew legal permission. Reuters issued a kill notice to its client media. CCTV claimed that the editing misrepresented the facts, while Reuters defended the accuracy of their editing, explaining the withdrawal as due to "loss of permission." On social media, there were mixed reactions, with some criticizing the move as "censorship," others seeing compliance with licensing as expected, and some posts mocking the incident itself. This case, where footage owned by a national broadcaster was simultaneously disseminated and retracted through the global news supply network, highlighted issues at the intersection of contractual obligations and press freedom, as well as the reliability of archives.