Pornography in China

In China, including the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC/Taiwan), the pornography laws and definitions vary depending on the governing authority. In the PRC there are criminal laws which prohibit the production, dissemination, and selling of sexually explicit material, and anyone doing so may be sentenced to life imprisonment. There is an ongoing campaign against "spiritual pollution", the term referencing the Chinese Communist party's Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign of 1983. Although pornography is illegal, it is available via the Internet.[1][2] Nationwide surveys between the years 2000 and 2015 revealed "more than 70 percent of men aged 18 to 29 said they had watched porn in the past year".[3]

PRC authorities have closed down many pornographic services in recent years, but an ongoing cat and mouse game between the two has led providers and users to find other ways to share adult content, both self-made and pirated from other pornographic film studios. In this aspect the development of the nation's online porn industry reflects the overall development of China's Internet.[4]

In contrast, pornography is legal in Taiwan and it's available via a number of routes, including DVD, television and the Internet. The level of piracy of pornographic films in the ROC territories is high because authorities have not traditionally recognised their copyrights. Copyright protection is usually strictly applied in the ROC, but pornography has been seen as an exception.[5]

  1. ^ Barmé, Geremie R (17 November 2013). "Spiritual Pollution Thirty Years On". Australian Centre on China in the World - Australian Centre on China in the World. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  2. ^ KIM WALL (6 June 2013). "Sex and the Law in China: 'The People Will Pull, and the Government Will Follow'". China: The Atlantic. Retrieved 2018-07-28.
  3. ^ Sui, Celine. "No Porn for Chinese Stuck Under Virus Lockdown". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  4. ^ France, Agence (1 July 2015). "China passes new national security law extending control over internet". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-07-28.
  5. ^ "台灣首家正版成人頻道開播 或促成人片版權保護" [Taiwan's first genuine adult channel launches and promotes adult copyright protection]. sina.com (in Chinese). 8 January 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2018.