Teach people to reject pornographic, violent sites

Much attention has been focused on Chinese authorities' crackdown on pornography on the Web and mobile phone accessible WAP sites.

The Ministry of Culture says it is monitoring more than 81,000 Internet cafes as part of the crackdown on illegal games with lewd, pornographic and violent content, and blocked access to unsuitable websites more than 87 million times last year. More and more karaoke bars are being monitored by direct links that allow officials to spot illegal music and lewd videos. Some chat rooms in Chinese search engine and information websites have been shut down because they were offering pornographic and other sexual services.

Western countries, too, regulate Internet and cell-phone abuses. They are concerned over pornography, ban sexual and violent content, encourage parental control and have employers who block access to non-work related websites to prevent their employees from accessing porn sites at work. They block people from accessing sites where they can buy from other countries medicines that cannot be sold locally without prescription to prevent the spread of illegal drugs and loss of tax revenue. They also try to ensure that people don't gamble online, especially on offshore sites.

But to understand the typical Western approach to regulations on pornography we have to differentiate soft and hardcore porn from child pornography. The latter is illegal, and action is taken not just against providers, but also users of such material in print as well as on the Internet. It is not uncommon for organizations and authorities to disclose details of credit-card owners who use them to access child porn sites. The penalties are severe and even famous personalities have not been exempt from prosecution.

China's regulations in these areas do not differentiate sufficiently. A typical mature Westerner may well accept, or regard as a good thing, that even an international bookstore in Shanghai does not have pornographic literature or magazines. But can some Westerners accept the fact that they cannot watch an adult movie in the privacy of their hotel room? Many hotels in Western countries offer an "adult viewing section" for a charge.

China accords broadly the same treatment to the film industry. The number of Western films that can be shown in China in a year is limited and their subjects are subject to verification. Western countries have a classification system that allows adults to watch movies with sexually explicit scenes and denies admission to minors. China has no such system.

There is little difficulty in determining "unsuitable" adult porn, but describing "evil, violent or depraved" may be a bit more difficult. Since soft porn is usually not prohibited for adults, it raises the question of unwanted intrusions, especially by Internet/WAP users who are minors.

It is very easy to reach a pornographic site accidentally because of minor differences in site names. One sensible thing to do would be to make the front pages of such sites "non-offensive"; they should be devoid of pictures and display a clear warning on the contents. Adults who access that kind of porn sites in the West, generally do so without legal ramifications. Authorities don't close a website simply because it contains lewd content.

In Western countries, adults get the freedom of choice after being imparted civic education in schools, which includes the dangers of drugs, alcohol, sexual encounters, unprotected sex, unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases and awareness of the laws regulating such activities. That then becomes a component of the greater freedom of choice - it is hopefully a choice informed by education and relying on the individual to choose a healthy, civilized lifestyle.

Sex in Chinese culture is considered taboo. It is not discussed thoroughly in Chinese schools. But the best way to minimize the impact of unwanted intrusions of Internet and WAP services would be to discuss sexual and violent contents with children in schools and educate them in a way that they can make the informed choice of rejecting them.

The author is an economist and director of China Programs at the American Institute for Foreign Study, which has ties with Nanjing University and Beijing Language and Culture University.

(China Daily 01/08/2010 page9)