China has banned “sexually provocative sounds” on television and pulled the plug on a show reconstructing infamous crimes by women ahead of a major Communist Party meeting next month.
The order, issued by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, is the latest in a raft of measures which have included cancelling reality shows featuring sex changes and plastic surgery and banning talent contests during prime-time.
“Sexually suggestive advertisements and scenes showing how women are influenced into a life of crime are detrimental to society,” it said in a statement posted on its website, referring to its decision to axe Red Question Mark, a crime documentary.
“Commercials containing sexually provocative sounds or tantalizing language as well as vulgar advertisements for breast enhancement and female underwear are banned, effective immediately,” said the SARFT notice.
A total of 1466 advertisements worth 2 billion yuan ($246 million) in revenues had been stripped from China’s airways since August, SARFT said, citing department statistics.
