China investigating ‘nth rooms’ child pornography sites after outcry in South Korea

Chinese authorities are investigating the country’s version of “nth rooms” – websites that offer sexually explicit images and videos of minors – after media exposure of the sites.

The websites were all based in foreign countries and were no longer accessible after the official investigation began, according to an online notice posted by China’s National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications on Saturday.

“We are tracking down tips that reflect sexual assault of minors, and if there are websites or personnel in China, there will be punishment according to the law,” the notice said. “We welcome tips from media and the public to create a clean cyberspace.”

The sex abuse scandal emerged in South Korea last week after at least 74 people, including 16 underage girls, were tricked and blackmailed into sharing sexual images of themselves on Telegram. The group chats on the encrypted messaging app are called “nth rooms” and customers paid up to US$1,200 to access them. They also had to upload their own sexual abuse videos or images as their ticket to enter the group chats.

Cho Ju-bin, a 24-year-old better known by the alias “The Doctor”, has been accused of running the rooms. His identity was revealed by the South Korean police following a public uproar over the case, with millions signing a petition to stamp out the sites. Members of the public have also requested the names of the 260,000 users of the chat rooms be revealed.

The Chinese websites were similar to the “nth rooms” in that they lured users to pay to watch pornographic content, and encouraged them to upload more videos by awarding them credits that could be used to access other content, The Beijing News reported on Friday.