BEIJING — Despite the Chinese government’s continued crackdown on Internet porn, it’s not stopping the country’s citizens from getting their online porn fix.
Just last month, three of China’s telecom giants along with major web portals signed a letter of commitment vowing to stop the spread of online porn. And more than 2,000 people were arrested in an online porn sting.
The anti-porn crusaders may be winning battles, but the war is far from over. Although the government cops can effectively block porn websites, the technology behind social media platforms makes them more difficult to control — providing an outlet for the lustful throngs seeking to satisfy their yen for porn.
Using social networks like China’s Sina Weibo.com Twitter clone, micro-blogs and GPS-based apps, the country’s populace is learning more about sex and even hooking up via social media.
According to The Daily Beast, Sina Weibo has nearly half a million followers using the handle “make love & stuff,” that lets users “learn a different sex technique every day."
One recent post instructed users how to have sex in a pool, complete with an underwater photo.
Weibo is also home to Chinese porn star Sora Aoi (yes there is one) who has 12.8 million followers despite her very tame photos. The site also hosts photos of amateurs who upload nudes with “throbbing appendages.”
“It’s shocking what some Chinese girls will show online, but you won’t hear me complaining,” university student Lu told The Beast. “People like to get off and Weibo makes that easy if you know where to look.”
The Weibo fan is an example of a growing number of citizens that belie the government’s stance that the Chinese are prudes at heart.
And hooking up online appears to be outpacing China’s efforts to ban anything adult related. Apps like “Momo,” “Weixin” and gay app “Grindr,” let people cruise for dates. The Beast reported that earlier this month, China’s state television did a feature on a hooker who was arrested after using Weixin to solicit johns.
And Momo lets users charge for their sexual services.
“It used to be that you’d chat and make a plan to meet up and everything was cool. But now it’s like you say hi and boom, she’s demanding 1,000 yuan ($157) a night,” an anonymous male user said.
Although the censors police Weibo for objectionable content, often requiring users' real names, deleting posts and photos and employing filters that slam NSFW posts with —“according to relevant laws and regulations, some relevant results are not shown here” — the social networks are emerging as welcomed havens for citizens shackled by a porn-phobic government.