Chinese authorities have attempted to crack down on porn video websites, yet their efforts remain fruitless as the industry flourishes. Now worth billions, this industry evades detection while creating risks to users and authorities alike.
Recently, China’s government has strengthened regulations and taken actions against distributors and profiteers of illegal activity involving sexual crimes such as rapes. As a result, sexual crimes such as rape have significantly decreased across China.
How it works
China has long been one of the leading markets for sexual content. Their porn video market now exceeds US$4.3 billion, with millions of Chinese women broadcasting to an audience of men via livestreaming apps.
Even with China’s ban on all forms of pornographic content, demand remains strong for such material. Over 70% of Chinese millennials reported watching at least one porn video every week.
This industry’s rise has fundamentally altered Chinese culture. Contrary to popular perception, women are no longer shying away from sexual pleasure – many young Chinese women now embrace sexual pleasure with open arms.
On the contrary, more elderly Chinese women are increasingly vocally opposing porn consumption as an act of moral degradation and considering boycotting China’s domestic porn industry – seen by them as violating traditional beliefs.
Chinese officials have deployed significant resources into reversing the spread of illegal porn, employing frequent crackdowns that target massage parlors and street prostitutes while neglecting more prestigious establishments such as luxury hotels or clubs. Unfortunately, their efforts often bear mixed results.
China has developed an effective new solution to countering porn: it entails using a device that monitors brainwaves of its users to detect when they are viewing explicit material and alert authorities as soon as it does. Worn on their heads, this device detects when someone views explicit material by tracking brainwave activity triggered by indecent content and quickly notifies authorities when this content has been seen by an individual.
Censorship technology has already been utilized successfully to remove indecent images on social media platforms; now however, artificial intelligence (AI) is being combined with it in order to speed up censors’ work and help identify indecent content more quickly.
Governments that want to curb the spread of porn are well aware that offering cash incentives as an incentive for reporting suspect sites is key in stopping its proliferation. Recently, authorities increased rewards for informants who come forward with information on those distributing porn.
This initiative is smart because it will encourage Chinese citizens to play an integral role in China’s ongoing fight against porn. While China’s government can have difficulty tracking those publishing or distributing illegal materials from overseas, the citizens will play an invaluable role.
Legality
China has long taken measures to curb porn. They have issued notices and prosecuted individuals producing offensive material; those caught spreading illicit content may face jail time as well.
Problematic is that online porn can easily spread, since many individuals can access the Internet. State media reported that in just six months alone, the National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications took down over 12,000 sites with pornographic material according to national office anti pornographic and illegal publications data.
Legal Daily’s recent investigation discovered that even with all of the government’s efforts, online porn is still widely distributed and shared. Erotic chat platforms can be established quickly at a cost of only several thousand dollars in just days.
One difficulty is that many apps employ sophisticated evasion techniques that make it hard for the government to track them down, including using different payment methods like credit cards and wire transfers as well as international money transfer offices that are inaccessible from within China.
To combat this issue, the government employs people known as jian huang shi (porn appraisers). These workers scour the internet in search of explicit content and judge images or videos accordingly.
Artificial intelligence may assist, but often human intervention is far more effective. Recently, one Chinese official pledged to severely crackdown on porn and other illegal content by 2022.
As more Chinese are exposed to sexually explicit content, China faces a difficult choice: whether to censor, regulate or make it illegal.
This decision could have far-reaching ramifications for China’s growing youth population, who tend to be more interested in sexually explicit content than their parents are. Furthermore, such content often has harmful ramifications for society as a whole.
Some also believe that the distribution of sexually explicit content is part of an effort to provoke public dialogue about China’s approach to censorship, with people believing the Chinese government needs to reconsider its methods for controlling porn and other NSFW content.
Business model
After doing a bit of research, it became apparent that there is an impressive market in live video streaming – particularly voice and video chat apps. Not only were these devices entertaining millions of users, but they were also an immensely profitable source for livestreaming companies like Youku and Tencent, each earning billions during 2018. As China continues to develop a robust online shopping and social media landscape, sex chat apps appear poised for longevity. Despite government efforts to limit such content, Chinese netizens continue to access plenty of sites offering sexual content despite government suppression efforts. But how are providers keeping customers satisfied? Simply by employing smart technologies combined with human interaction and offering relevant incentives.
Social impact
China has taken steps to ban pornography and distributers, yet erotic culture remains widely prevalent despite these attempts by government authorities. This phenomenon can be explained by both desire for sexual stimulation as well as social conditioning which encourages responses related to it.
It also reflects the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), whose neoliberal ideology seeks to promote individual freedoms and personal choice both within society and state institutions. Yet this approach could have devastating results for a culture in which sexual content forms part of identity and lifestyles.
Qvod, which owns and operates Kuaibo, was recently charged with profiting from porn distribution according to The Wall Street Journal. A court ruling stated that they failed to monitor customers properly or prevent spreading of illegal materials that was spreading illegally throughout China.
China has long had a history of banning porn and its distribution. Beginning with communist rule in 1949, any attempt at publishing or disseminating material that violated national moral standards became punishable under criminal law.
Since then, the government has used various legal means to combat porn. These measures include regulating Internet usage and websites containing sexually explicit material or services; blocking access to pornography sites; and revoking registration of sites offering porn content or services.
The government’s approach is to target websites containing explicit or pornographic material, leading to criminal penalties such as prison terms and fines for these sites, while in some instances website operators or owners may even face arrest for illegal advertising online or for distributing porn.
One way the government combats porn is by going after those who provide illegal sexual services. Chinese massage parlors and street prostitutes tend to fall under this category of scrutiny.
Owinging to its effectiveness, this tactic often results in widespread denial of legal rights and lack of accountability among law enforcement agencies – an issue of great concern to many in the social justice movement as well as those who oppose current regime.