China Offers Citizens up to ¥600,000 to Report Porn

By Matthew Bossons

Chinese authorities are taking new steps to combat pornography and other illegal content within the country, by promising citizens cold, hard cash if they report the publication of undesirable content. And believe us when we say, it’s no modest payout.

The National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications released details of the new anti-porn measures on November 16 and the rules were officially implemented on December 1. According to the report, an individual who informs authorities on the publication of illicit content can now receive up to RMB600,000 as a reward. 

Similarly, a reward of up to RMB50,000 will be granted to those who report network information or applications that endanger the physical or mental health of minors as well as social morality. While rewards for reporting these crimes were already in place, the reward for reporting published content has doubled with the implementation of the new measures. 

READ MORE: Porn Bust! Over 20 Arrested in South China Over Cyber Pornography

Despite the government’s success in cleaning up large swaths of China’s Internet, the newest policies have signaled trouble lies ahead for some content creators. In a move that sparked international outrage, one erotic writer, surnamed Liu, was handed a heavy sentence of more than 10 years in prison for writing and selling over 7,000 copies of her 2017 novel Occupy, which frequently portrayed homosexual scenes. Liu profited RMB150,000 before authorities banned the book, according to South China Morning Post. Many other artists, fearing they may share a similar fate, have asked their followers not to spread their work on social media.

The founder of popular video app Hot TV was sentenced to seven years in prison in August of this year, after it was discovered that the app had 1,759 illegal videos on the platform, according to TechNode. Among the illicit footage, 28 videos were pornographic films (four smut films = one year in the slammer).

In October, a Yunnan man was sentenced to six months in prison for running a porn-sharing WeChat group that grew to over 150 people at the time of his arrest.

[Cover image Pixabay]

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