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More than 50 writers have been detained in the province of Anhui by a “special task force” assigned with targeting online distributors of erotic fiction.
Dozens of Chinese writers have been arrested since June as part of an ongoing crackdown against pornographic content, according to multiple news and social media reports.
More than 50 writers have been detained in the province of Anhui by a “special task force” assigned with targeting online distributors of erotic fiction, Radio Free Asia reported, based on several accounts from newspapers in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tawain, as well as social media posts in online writing communities from writers and their family members.
Many of the writers were arrested after publishing on the Taiwan-based adult fiction website Haitang Literature, which allows authors to earn money through tips and subscriptions. One of the most popular genres on the website is "danmei" — romantic and sexual relationships between men. Ten of those sentenced had posted gay erotica.
One of the top authors on the site, known by the pen name Yuan Shang Bai Yun Jian, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. Another writer with the pen name Ci Xi was sentenced to five and a half years, whereas one known a Yi Xie was sentenced to one year and five months. The differences between the sentences is based on whether or not the writers were able to pay back the money they earned.
The production and distribution of pornographic materials is illegal in China based on a 1997 law that defines obscene material as “publications, films, video and audio recordings, and images containing depictions of sexual acts." Writers who make more than 250,000 yuan ($34,500) from selling erotic materials face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The law, which applies even to writers making little or no money off their work, has not been consistently enforced. It has been used to shut down not just other fanfiction and erotica websites — with those running the platforms receiving sentences of up to 12 years in prison — but also to prosecute individuals consuming pornography in the privacy of their homes.
Many of the charges against the writers have not been made public, nor have they been reported on by Chinese media, which is directly controlled by the government. Several writers and their family members have taken to social media to ask for help paying off the fines to potentially reduce their sentences, via the South China Morning Post.
One woman known by the pen name Yunjian, who had been publishing stories for over a decade on the site, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. Her husband relayed a message to her fans on social media, stating: “She said, ‘I will work hard in prison and try to get out earlier. By then, I’ll thank my readers in person.'"
