China Will Reward Citizens Up to $86,000 Just for Reporting Porn
By Carl Samson
China has increased its cash rewards for citizens reporting pornography and other illegl content to authorities.
In a statement on Friday, regulators announced that people can take home up to 600,000 yuan ($86,500) for reporting such content beginning Dec. 1.
The new reward is an upgrade from the previous guidelines, which rewarded citizens up to 300,000 yuan ($43,250).
In China, illegal content includes work that “endangers national unity,” “leaks state secrets” and “disturbs social order,” according to AFP.
The announcement comes after the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) scrubbed 9,800 accounts on social media platforms that allegedly spread “sensational, vulgar or politically harmful” content.
Such platforms were then required to submit detailed logs of their users — such as real names, usernames, network addresses, times of use, communication logs and device types — by Nov. 30.
On Oct. 31, a female novelist was sentenced to 10 years in prison for writing and distributing homoerotic fiction, CNN reported.
The novelist, surnamed Liu, better known as “Tianyi,” was arrested in 2017 following the publication of “Occupy,” which sold some 7,000 copies online.
Liu’s arrest has triggered a nationwide outcry, with many pointing out that more serious crimes carried lower sentences. For instance, rapists can only serve between three to 10 years, the South China Morning Post noted.
One such example is the case of an official from Yunnan province who was sentenced to only five years in prison after abducting and raping a 4-year-old girl. After a backlash, his jail term was extended to eight years.
Liu, who reportedly earned more than 150,000 yuan ($21,624) for selling “Occupy” and other novels, was accused of “producing and selling pornographic materials.”
It is unclear if an appeal on the case is underway.
Deng Xueping, a lawyer at China’s Capital Equity Legal Group, told CNN that Liu’s sentence was based on an outdated interpretation of laws from 1998.
“When the number of copies exceeds 5,000, the case is deemed as a severe one. So the 10-year imprisonment is based on that. But things have changed a lot in society … especially that the internet helps things spread faster than ever … That’s why I think it’s worth discussing if the sentence for the case is too heavy. The supreme court might need to reconsider the related judicial interpretation. The punishments of the criminal law should be in proportion to the social impact of the crimes.”
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