Porn or art? Couple’s viral naked photos on the streets of China spark police investigation
Internet users divided over whether the nude pictures are shameful and perverse, or just an expression of art
Police in southwestern China are investigating a series of photos of a young couple posing nude in the streets that have gone viral online.
The photos, taken at night at various locations in Yunnan province’s tourist city of Dali, depict the pair either completely naked or half-dressed, The Beijing News reported.
Posted on microblogging platform weibo early on Monday morning, the pictures – taken in front of a secondary school, a bar, a youth hotel and at a crossroad – went viral almost immediately.
They were later deleted after strong criticism over their pornographic nature, the newspaper said.
Many internet users said the nude photos brought shame to the city, especially that taken in front of the school.
Others, though, saw them merely as personal expressions of art and called for greater tolerance from the public.
The pictures were taken at night and did not feature any onlookers, suggesting that their photo-taking had not caused any disturbance to others, they said.
The controversy prompted Dali police to open an investigation to trace the source of the photos, the authorities said on weibo on Monday.
The weibo user who posted the photos has since deleted most of his posts and changed his location from Chengdu, Sichuan province, to Beijing.
