Latest news with #boysLove
Japan Times
10-07-2025
- Japan Times
China detains female writers of 'boys' love' content in porn crackdown
Police in China have detained dozens of young women authors in a genre of gay erotica widely known in Asia as "boys' love" during a nationwide crackdown on online pornography, lawyers and activists familiar with the cases say. The detentions since March have triggered debate on social media about the limits of free speech and the apparent sexist nature of the crackdown, while stirring sympathy for the authors, many of whom hail from low-income backgrounds. "I just wanted to earn some money to ease my family's financial burden," one author of such works wrote in a May 25 post on microblogging platform Weibo before it was deleted. "I never imagined that 300,000 clicks and 4,000 yuan in royalties accumulated by those obscure words over time would become criminal evidence," she added, referring to a sum equivalent to about $560. Police detained the women in the northwestern city of Lanzhou for violating a 2004 obscenity law that can carry jail terms of more than 10 years or life, though legal scholars want it overhauled to reflect changes in internet usage. The writers, all in their 20s and early 30s, published their work on Haitang Literature City, a niche pay-to-read online platform specializing in the erotic fiction genre, popular with women, that features relationships between men. The website is censored in China and can only be accessed by using virtual private network (VPN) software. One author detained in April earned royalties of less than 10,000 yuan that supplemented her income from a series of menial jobs, said her defense lawyer, who sought anonymity for fear of police retaliation. "In a country that emphasises socialist morality, people's concept of sex is influenced by the prevailing culture, so of course it is linked to freedom of speech," the lawyer said. "If these things cannot be written now, wasn't 'Dream of the Red Chamber' also obscene at the time?" they asked, referring to a famous 18th-century Chinese novel. Some authors may face trial as soon as this autumn if prosecutors decide to press charges, the lawyer added. Lanzhou police did not reply to a request for comment. Police in China have detained dozens of young women authors of boys' love works in a nationwide crackdown on online pornography. | Siyi Zhao / The New York Times In 2021, China's state media regulator called for the removal of content depicting "abnormal sexual relationships," a year after the official People's Daily condemned boys' love novels as "poison" that could "mislead young people on gender." The number of women detained could not be confirmed, although lawyers say some were later released on bail. None could be reached for interviews and family members declined to speak, citing safety threats. In recent weeks, several have written social media posts about their experiences, only for these to be deleted later. One described being detained by police in front of her university classmates. Others said police interrogated them about their sex lives and sexual orientation. More than a dozen Chinese lawyers have publicly offered pro bono aid to authors and Haitang readers summoned by police. China cracks down periodically on content it deems "immoral," ranging from LGBTQ+-themed social media accounts to "vulgar" livestreamers and influencers who "flaunt wealth." A crackdown on gay erotica last year saw more than 50 Haitang authors detained or fined by rural police in the eastern province of Anhui, according to lawyers. One well-known author was jailed in December for 4½ years for earning 1.8 million yuan by publishing "obscene works," a court judgment posted online by her husband showed. The user did not respond to a request for comment. But the latest group of detained authors made just a few thousand yuan from their work, said an activist familiar with several cases who declined to be identified for safety reasons. In informal conversations, the defense lawyer said, Lanzhou court officials have called the stories "disgusting and perverted" for their depiction of LGBTQ+ relationships. "These websites are extremely niche and can only be accessed by insiders, whereas vulgar online content involving gambling, porn and minors is everywhere on short-video apps and social media," one user wrote on the RedNote social networking platform. Its "Haitang" hashtag drew more than 205 million views and 1.8 million posts before it was censored in June. "Men who write pornographic fiction enter the China Writers' Association, whereas women who do the same go to jail," runs a popular RedNote meme. Many users said some perpetrators of rape, molestation and domestic violence received lighter sentences than writers of erotica. "An authoritarian government can only use a one-size-fits-all approach to arrest authors," feminist activist Li Maizi said of the anti-pornography campaign.
ABC News
11-06-2025
- ABC News
Police in China arrest female authors of homosexual novels in crackdown on 'boys love' fiction genre
Female writers have been summoned by police for posting and sharing homosexual romance stories online, in a widespread crackdown on the 'boys love' genre in China. If convicted, they could be subjected to detention, financial penalties, and even prison sentences. Many of the targeted writers published their work on Haitang, a Taiwanese website popular with fans of boys love fiction — a genre that features romantic relationships between male characters, often depicting sex scenes. Some of them have been documenting their experiences on Chinese social media. A university student who goes by their pen name Sijindejin said she was served a notice in May to present herself at a local police station in Gansu province — about 970km away from her village in Chengdu. Sijindejin, who says she grew up in a "poor village", bought the cheapest flight available and took her first plane trip to comply. According to Chinese laws, police in any part of the country who claim they have received complaints about an individual can call them in for questioning. Having only made 4,000 yuan ($857) after writing for years, Sijindejin said she never knew it could be a crime. "I thought I could write my way out of the orbit of my destiny, and I thought I was writing my future, but I didn't realise that that future pointed to prison," Sijindejin wrote in her social media post. Another writer also summoned by police expressed her similar shock. "I'd never expected this day to come, to be hit in the face with every word I've written in the past," the anonymous writer said in a post on social media platform Weibo in late May. "I love each of my books, and I see the books and each of the characters in them as my children, even when they are called sinful." Writers of the boys love genre are mainly female, and it appears many of the targeted writers are also university students unable to afford legal representation. Three lawyers, representing some of the writers, also posted about the crackdown, noting the scale of action has been widespread, with estimates that at least 100 writers have been affected. Radio Free Asia reported that police in remote north-western Gansu province have called in dozens of writers, with some subsequently being detained, fined, or charged with offences that could result in prison terms. While the reason for the recent suppression is unclear, it is not the first time writers of the boys love genre have been targeted. Last year, local police in Anhui province summoned several writers over the alleged offence of disseminating obscene content. Some had their earnings from subscriber payments confiscated, and were also convicted and sentenced to prison. China last updated its laws on "digitally obscene" content in 2010. Those regulations said the "production, reproduction, publication, trafficking, dissemination" of any obscene works that generate more than 5,000 clicks online, or that make profits more than 5,000 yuan ($1,072), should be treated as a crime. In 2018, writer Liu Yuanyuan was fined and sentenced to 10 years in prison for publishing her novel Occupy, a boys love fiction that contained content deemed as obscene. The novel generated more than 150,000 yuan ($32,200) in profits. Elsa, a boys love fiction writer who doesn't want to use her real name, said it was unreasonable and ignorant to treat all boys love fiction as obscene. She said she didn't understand why only homosexual love writing was being targeted. Homosexuality is not illegal in China, but gay couples cannot get married in the country. "No matter if it's love and sexuality in reality or in a fictional world, people should respect differences," Elsa said. "People are all discussing whether the sentencing was too harsh and whether it's appropriate to use dated standards to trial today's cases." The crackdown has sparked backlash across China, with many people questioning the motives behind the police summons and severity of punishments. On Chinese social media, people have accused police of "offshore fishing" — a phrase that refers to local police who have allegedly summoned suspects from other parts of the country for questioning for financial gain. The phrase "offshore fishing" was censored last week on social media platforms in China, including Weibo and WeChat. Haitang, the website popular with fans of boys love fiction, has also been suspended until July 8. A spokesperson for Haitang said they were working on improving their services. Tang Hongyang, a lawyer who represented several writers of the boys love genre last year, said the situation was getting worse. But Beijing-based lawyer Zhang Dongshuo disagreed, saying the government may not be chasing profits. "It seems that they have detained writers from poor family backgrounds who haven't made much money as well," Mr Zhang told the ABC. Mr Zhang said authorities may have restarted the crackdown on boys love fiction because it was seen as unfavourable to China's new policies in raising fertility rates. "Officials may think that these cases can eliminate the social influence [of homosexual love stories] and give young people a more 'positive' sexual orientation, and in a way promote fertility rates," he said. Mr Zhang explained that China's fertility rates were dropping and many young people were opting out of marriage. Despite this, he believes China's law on digitally obscene content should be updated to reflect the new social reality. Professor Wang Pan, who studies Chinese social media and pop culture at the University of New South Wales, said boys love fiction became a target of censorship and crackdown as it gained popularity in China. She said the crackdown on boys love fiction was not just a blow to China's LGBT community, but also a blow to writers' freedom. "The market and influence of boys love fiction has been expanding in recent years, and is sought after by more and more young people, especially women," Professor Wang said. "The authors, who were the targets of criminal detention, were mostly female subculture content creators. They were underprivileged and earned some meagre fees and reward payments for their writing." Professor Wang said the recent crackdown showed the government was expanding its scope of surveillance over the subculture and further restricting freedom of speech. The Chinese government has been contacted for comment. Elsa, the boys love fiction writer, said she felt sad for her peers who have been detained for writing boys love fiction. "It's impossible not to feel anxious and disappointed," she said. "I am not in the zone for writing at the moment and will stop for a while, but I'll not give up writing. "For those who didn't depict many sex scenes in their book and didn't make much money, it's really unfair for them to get criminal records for just publishing their stories on Haitang."
