Chinese law forbids the dissemination of explicit or hardcore materials of any kind, including those involving only consenting adults. The law considers such activities crimes against the people and the state.
According to the group Human Rights Watch, since 1995 China has passed more than 60 sets of regulations regarding Internet content. Most are broadly worded, giving authorities wide birth concerning what they consider to be criminal activities as well as punishment for those activities.
Last year, the government announced a “war on pornography,” passing stiffer penalties — including life in prison — for “severe cases,” which include websites that have been clicked on more than 250,000 times.
All Chinese websites are required to register with the government to make it easier to monitor their activities. Those that do not face immediate closure and criminal penalties.
The government employs more than 30,000 people to oversee the Internet and seek out offending sites.
China’s police ministry also hands out rewards of up to 2,000 yaun, or $330, to people who report adult sites. Xu Jianzhuo of China’s Ministry of Public Security said the public gave 1,568 tip-offs in the last month alone.
The government also has spent millions in an attempt to control what citizens view over the Internet and block access to adult material, including the mandatory installation of filtering software on all public computers.
China has justified such tactics by arguing that online nude shows are proliferating at an alarming rate and could have a catastrophic social effect.
For example, Xu alleged that exposure to adult material could adversely impact children’s studies and lead them to crime.
In fact, the country’s health ministry is so concerned about online pornography that it recently opened a clinic to treat “victims” of addiction.
The facility currently houses 15 patients, all young men. Psychologists working at the clinic say this is the demographic most prone to compulsive Internet use. Patients undergo a two-week course involving medical treatment, psychological therapy and daily workouts.
The government plans to open half a dozen more clinics totaling more than 200 patients in 2006.
