Numerous microblog accounts of Japanese porn stars have been shut down in China following the announcement of a new initiative to “eliminate pornography and illegal publications,” reports Duowei News, an outlet run by overseas Chinese.
The “Cleaning the Web 2014” initiative, reportedly proposed by Chinese president Xi Jinping in his role as chief of a central internet security and informatization leading group established earlier this year, was activated in mid-April as part of an ongoing campaign to tighten controls over online content in China.
Japanese porn star Anri Okita at an adult expo in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on Dec. 7, 2012. (Photo/Hsieh Ming-Tso)
More than 20 “literary” websites have reportedly been shut down as part of the sweep, while the popular peer-to-peer video applications Baidu Player and Kuaibo’s QVOD announced that their servers were being suspended, with the latter’s offices raided by police last week. A lack of monitoring and oversight on these servers have allowed large quantities of pirated videos and pornography to be uploaded and distributed, Duowei said.
Within the first four days of the initative, Beijing ordered local registered websites to delete 40,584 online porn messages and shut down 241 accounts that violated “moral regulations,” according to China’s official Xinhua news agency.
Netizens have also pointed out that the official pages of Japanese porn stars Anri Okita, Julia and Tony Ooki have disappeared from Sina Weibo, China’s version of Twitter. However, the Sina Weibo page of China’s most popular Japanese porn star, Aoi Sora, remains accessible to her 14.8 million followers, at least for now.
Last Thursday, authorities threatened to pull Sina’s business license for publishing pornographic information. The National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications said it has also sent copies of the notice to Sina in Beijing, requesting the company to cease its internet publishing business and internet video program broadcasting, according to a report from the nationalistic tabloid Global Times.
Sina has been accused of posting 20 books with pornographic information on its book-reading channel and four video programs containing pornographic material, Duowei said, adding that the company has also been asked to pay a fine that is five to 10 times the revenue of the illegal materials.
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It would be unwise not to view “the China model” as an isolated problem. There are some over here and in Europe who consider these policies “progressive” and would like to emulate them for our benefit.
The usual suspects come to mind.