The Defense Department’s 2026 rule on military help for films and Chinese censorship demands

On June 9, 2026, the Department of Defense published a final rule in the Federal Register that changes the terms on which the United States military helps make films, television series, documentaries and video games. Since the rule took effect on July 9, 2026, a production company that wants the department’s assistance has had to certify that its project has not complied, and is not likely to comply, with a demand from the government of the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese Communist Party or an entity under their direction to censor the project’s content in a material way that advances China’s national interest.

Where the rule comes from

The rule carries out section 1257 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, Public Law 117-263. According to the department, that section prohibits its help for entertainment projects that have gone along with such demands, or are likely to, and the law is the main reason for the rule. It proposed the changes on July 16, 2024, with 60 days for public comment, received five comments, and says it made no further substantive changes before adopting the text. The rule amends Part 238 of Title 32 of the Code of Federal Regulations, which governs the department’s help to non-government entertainment productions.

What producers now have to do

Requests go through the entertainment media offices of the Military Departments or the National Guard Bureau. The rule now requires a set form, DD Form 3205, “Request for DoD Production Assistance,” filed with a completed script, or for a documentary a treatment or narrative description, and the list of support wanted. A project is considered for approval only once an authorized representative of the production company has given the China certification. Approval rests with the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, and the amended rule says that authority may not be delegated outside that official’s office.

The obligation continues after approval. In the sample Production Assistance Agreements published with the rule, the company states that, to the best of its knowledge, neither the project nor its producers, sponsors, distributors, parent companies or other affiliates have complied or are likely to comply with such a demand. It also agrees to tell the department’s project officer in writing, straight away, if it learns of one, with the demand’s terms and whether the project has complied or is likely to.

The project officer weighs three things: the company’s certification, its commitments in the agreement and “verifiable information from other sources.” When information of that kind reaches the office of the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, the rule says that office will, as far as feasible, raise it with the company before deciding. Support can then be started, continued or ended. The policy section draws the line: no assistance where there is “demonstrable evidence” that a production has given in to such a demand or is likely to.

What stayed the same

The reasons for helping a production at all are those of the rule the department adopted in 2015, which took effect on September 9 of that year. Help is possible when it benefits the department or serves the nation’s best interest, judged by whether a production portrays the Military Services and the department in a reasonably realistic way, is informational and likely to add to public understanding of them, or may help recruiting and retention. The department says support should cost the government and taxpayers nothing extra: the production company reimburses the additional expenses, ordinarily in advance.

Some of the results show on screen. The 2015 rule asked producers to make their best efforts to put “Special Thanks to the United States Department of Defense” in the end titles, just above any “Special Thanks” section, and to arrange an official screening for the department, in Washington, D.C., or another agreed place, before a non-documentary production is shown to the public. The 2026 general sample agreement includes both, and the documentary one the credit. The 2026 documentary agreement also asks that every re-enactment be labeled “RE-ENACTMENT” on screen.

Which productions the department expects it to affect

Most of the department’s help goes to unscripted, documentary or other productions that are not usually submitted for distribution in China, it says. It expects the rule to matter most for larger-budget feature films whose makers may want the option of a release there. Projects that do not ask for the department’s help are outside the rule altogether.

The objections, and the department’s answer

All five comments were generally supportive, according to the department, and two asked for more. One wanted non-fiction stories covered, more content on cyber warfare and extra funding to investigate human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party or China’s government; the department answered that the rule already allows support for documentaries and that it does not fund assistance to entertainment projects. Another asked how the department would judge whether a project was likely to give way to a demand. That commenter warned that the rule could let the department impose content-based limits that discourage favorable portrayals of China, which could feed anti-Chinese racism, and proposed a promise backed by a duty to repay the assistance in place of script review. The department kept its approach, saying that the certification is one of several conditions and that every project must also meet the long-standing criteria.

What applies now

The rule has applied since July 9, 2026. A search of the Federal Register for documents on Part 238, which we ran on November 12, 2026, found nothing published after the June 9 final rule: no correction, no delay and no further change. On that record, by our reading, the certification applies to any production that asks for the department’s help today.