Recent media reports have highlighted confusion over whether one-to-one online sex is legal and controversy over whether police should be able to monitor it. On November 3, China's biggest Internet portal published poll results saying 77 percent thought the police had no right to do so.
The Sohu.com online survey involved 2,354 respondents, 58 percent of whom said they were unsure whether it was illegal or not and 28 percent that it was legal. About 16 percent said the police did have a right to surveil it.
Interviews reported by Jinling Evening News on November 1 had found similar disagreement and confusion. One man named Wang in Nanjing said that private sex chat was important to him and his girlfriend, who lives in Shenzhen.
He thought the privacy of the individuals involved was guaranteed by the Constitution and that police should not be able to intrude on it.
But Meng Lankai, a Jiangsu attorney, said this would only be an invasion of privacy if Internet chat was considered private correspondence, and even then police could check it if they think national security is threatened or a crime taking place.
She added that 24-hour blanket surveillance would invade people's privacy: "You may suspect illegal sex dealings in some hotel rooms, but you can't install cameras in every single room."
Private online sex is not currently covered by law in China, but laws against organized pornographic performances could give police legal grounds to monitor it, and the legal definitions are vague enough that some worry police may attempt to intervene to stop it.
The State Council Information Office, Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Information launched a nationwide campaign against online porn performances on September 28, and a month later China Daily reported that charges had been filed against 216 people in 94 cases.
Xu Jianzhuo, deputy division chief of the Public Information and Web Security Supervision Bureau, said these included both online nude shows and encouraging or tricking people into engaging in interactive performances.
According to the China Internet Network Information Center (CINIC), the number of Chinese Internet users reached 103 million in July. Of them, 15.8 percent were minors and 55.1 percent aged 18-30 years.
(China.org.cn by Zhang Rui November 15, 2005)
