China Bans Online Content Related To Sex, Violence and the Supernatural

China are continuing their online crackdown, asking TV and media to remove risqué content showing one night stands, sexual abuse and adultery.

All online streaming sites must delete such content, which also includes scenes depicting rape, fornication, plots with violent murder, gambling and “supernatural occurrences”.

The order comes from China’s top media and TV watchdog, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.

This follows a moral crackdown online earlier in the year, which saw apps like Momo and WeChat told to delete salacious content from their platforms, and led to the deletion of millions of profiles.

State media called Momo “hormone-filled”, and said it was a hotbed for prostitution.

An April push to delete pornography and other sexual content, entitled Cleaning the Web 2014, led to 110 websites being closed down.

Tan Tian, a professor at Jinan University, told the Global Times: “Media regulators used to have loose regulations on [these] programs, so that the public is often exposed to contents related to sex, violence and murder.”

He thinks the crackdown could harm China’s creative industries, and potentially leave the public with very little online content to watch.

Video websites are also being asked to strip headlines from videos that include references to sex or nudity, or use sexual innuendos.

Although sites like Netflix and Amazon Prime are behind a firewall, this could affect local sites like Sohu.