Advertisement
China’s porn censors shut down 12,000 websites in the first half of 2020
- Authorities said they removed 8.4 million pieces of pornographic and other “harmful” information
- Popular video streaming platforms iQiyi and Youku were penalised over their content
Reading Time:1 minute
Why you can trust SCMP
It’s been a busy first half of 2020 for China’s online content watchdog, the National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications. The agency announced on Thursday that it removed more than 12,000 websites with pornographic or “harmful” content in the first six months of the year. Harmful content is a vague term commonly used to cover anything from scams and gambling to politically unsavory content.
Any kind of sexually graphic content has long been illegal in China, whether it’s visual or literary. In 2018, a writer under the pseudonym Tianyi was sentenced to 10 years in prison for selling 7,000 copies of an erotic novel that contained “graphic depictions of male homosexual sex scenes”. That same year, the country doubled the maximum reward for tips about porn to 600,000 yuan (US$86,500).
The clean-up took down more than just websites. The agency said it purged more than 8.4 million pieces of pornographic and harmful information and opened 1,800 investigations in connection with such content. Some of China’s biggest online platforms even got caught up in the investigation. Youku and iQiyi, two popular video streaming websites, received administrative penalties. Forum site Baidu Tieba and Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, were also among the platforms told to clean up their act and remove undesirable content.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x