Sunday, May 08, 2016

China bans erotic banana-eating live streams

Chinese live-streaming services have banned people filming themselves eating bananas in a "seductive" fashion.

New regulations mean that live-streaming sites must monitor all their output round-the-clock to ensure nothing untoward is going on, keeping an eye out for any "erotic" banana-eating. It's not just fruit that's on their radar though, wearing stockings and suspenders while hosting a live stream is now also forbidden.

The move is the authorities' latest attempt to clamp down on "inappropriate and erotic" online content. In April, the Ministry of Culture announced it was investigating a number of popular live-streaming platforms for allegedly hosting pornographic or violent content that "harms social morality". News of the banana ban has prompted thousands of users to chime in on Chinese social media.

YouTube link.

Some are more concerned with the young women choosing to take part in live streaming, but others are a bit baffled by how the rules will be enforced. "How do they decide what's provocative when eating a banana?" one person asks. Another wonders: "Can male live-streamers still eat them?" And plenty think people will be able to get around the banana ban: "They will all start eating cucumbers, and if that's no good, yams," one user says.

No comments: