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Many of the writers specialize in danmei, a style depicting gay romance and sex similar to Japanese manga.
In December, Chinese news site Shuiping Jiyuanreported police had detained more than 50 writers in Anhui province, west of Shanghai, since June. Sentences have ranged up to four and a half years in prison.
At least 10 people have been sentenced for posting gay-themed erotica online, according to open records from the Jixi County People’s Court in Anhui, the South China Morning Postreports.
A “special task force” carried out the arrests of the writers, many of whom published on the Taiwan-based adult fiction website Haitang Literature, Hong Kong’s Sing Tao DailyNews and Taiwan’s Pacific Daily newspapers reported.
“One of my friends is an author, who was released on bail, called me from a new phone and told us to be prepared,” one writer posted to the gaming bulletin board NGA, cited by the AO3 fan-fiction site on Reddit.
“Later, others also reported that their friends had been affected,” the post recounted. “We compared details and confirmed that this is a nationwide crackdown. Moreover, the website’s [Chinese] distributor is indeed in trouble and can’t be reached.”
China’s state-controlled media haven’t reported on the arrests.
“Disseminating obscene electronic messages” has long been illegal under the authoritarian Chinese regime. A 1997 law defines obscene material as “publications, films, video and audio recordings, and images containing depictions of sexual acts.”
In 2010, a Chinese court ruling determined erotic material that gains more than 5,000 clicks can be deemed a criminal offense.
How the writers are sentenced under Chinese law depends on how much money they make. Those who earn more than 250,000 yuan (US$34,500) from selling erotic materials can face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Sentences have been reduced, however, if the writers can pay back all or a portion of the money they’ve made selling their work online. Family members have posted to social media and crowdfunding sites in an effort to raise funds to get their loved ones an early release.
Erotic literature has long been a target in the Chinese government’s crusade defending “social morals” in the Communist country, despite the fact there is rarely an obvious victim in such cases, said Chen Zhaonan, a Guangdong-based lawyer. He argued against the government’s practice of basing sentencing on potentially inflated sales figures gleaned from the erotica websites.
In 2018, a woman using the pen name Tianyi was jailed for 10 and a half years for publishing a novel that was filled with “graphic depictions of male homosexual sex,” according to local media reports. It reportedly sold 7,000 copies.
10 arrested for writing gay erotica in China as part of nationwide crackdown
Government officials in China are cracking down on erotic fiction writers and their online distribution networks, according to multiple news reports and social media posts, with dozens of writers reportedly arrested in one province and facing years in prison.Many of the writers specialize in danmei, a style depicting gay romance and sex similar to Japanese manga.
In December, Chinese news site Shuiping Jiyuanreported police had detained more than 50 writers in Anhui province, west of Shanghai, since June. Sentences have ranged up to four and a half years in prison.
At least 10 people have been sentenced for posting gay-themed erotica online, according to open records from the Jixi County People’s Court in Anhui, the South China Morning Postreports.
A “special task force” carried out the arrests of the writers, many of whom published on the Taiwan-based adult fiction website Haitang Literature, Hong Kong’s Sing Tao DailyNews and Taiwan’s Pacific Daily newspapers reported.
“One of my friends is an author, who was released on bail, called me from a new phone and told us to be prepared,” one writer posted to the gaming bulletin board NGA, cited by the AO3 fan-fiction site on Reddit.
“Later, others also reported that their friends had been affected,” the post recounted. “We compared details and confirmed that this is a nationwide crackdown. Moreover, the website’s [Chinese] distributor is indeed in trouble and can’t be reached.”
China’s state-controlled media haven’t reported on the arrests.
“Disseminating obscene electronic messages” has long been illegal under the authoritarian Chinese regime. A 1997 law defines obscene material as “publications, films, video and audio recordings, and images containing depictions of sexual acts.”
In 2010, a Chinese court ruling determined erotic material that gains more than 5,000 clicks can be deemed a criminal offense.
How the writers are sentenced under Chinese law depends on how much money they make. Those who earn more than 250,000 yuan (US$34,500) from selling erotic materials can face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Sentences have been reduced, however, if the writers can pay back all or a portion of the money they’ve made selling their work online. Family members have posted to social media and crowdfunding sites in an effort to raise funds to get their loved ones an early release.
Erotic literature has long been a target in the Chinese government’s crusade defending “social morals” in the Communist country, despite the fact there is rarely an obvious victim in such cases, said Chen Zhaonan, a Guangdong-based lawyer. He argued against the government’s practice of basing sentencing on potentially inflated sales figures gleaned from the erotica websites.
In 2018, a woman using the pen name Tianyi was jailed for 10 and a half years for publishing a novel that was filled with “graphic depictions of male homosexual sex,” according to local media reports. It reportedly sold 7,000 copies.
