Censorship in China just keeps getting harsher.
China has announced that it will be increasing a reward given to anyone who can report “illegal” works.
The Chinese government made this announcement last month as the country continues its effort to censor content online, in television, and now in person as well.
An reward will go out to any Chinese citizen who can report “illegal” publications that distribute “obscene” material. The amount of the reward can now go upwards to 600,000 yuan or $86,412.
Creating an incentive in order to increase reports can easily create chaos and exploitation of the law. Look for instance at what happened recently in America with the Philadelphia-born gay man who was almost deported, because of a law where sheriffs get compensated for extending the detention of suspected illegal immigrants.
Another example would be the Chinese author who was sentenced to 10 years in prison last month. The author, who’s referred to as Tianyi, was selling 7,000 pornographic books involving the love affair of a teacher and his male student.
Someone reported Tianyi and she was arrested by the police earlier this year. Now, she has been given the heavy sentence of 10 years, which many complained is a longer sentence than even rapists get.
It seems a wave of censorship is sweeping the globe, but China is leagues ahead of anybody else.
