Youku User Flagged As Inappropriate

Posted on September 6, 2008
Filed Under China Internet, China Law |

A 24-year-old Internet user, surnamed Lu, was sentenced to eight months in prison on Tuesday for uploading a pornographic video to Beijing-based online video site Youku.com on March 5, reports Nanfang Daily. The video was broadcast 25,274 times, added to 19 space pages and gained 83 positive and 39 negative votes before it was removed from the web, said the report. The Guangdong Chancheng District People’s Court decided the case. Youku.com received a broadcasting license from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television on July 3.

Despite allowing naughty bits to be seen 25,000-odd times, Youku seems to have successfully navigated the the online video regulatory minefield. They never were shut down like 56.com or shut themselves down in an introspective moral panic like Tudou.

They wangled their online video license in July, just after picking up US$30 million in their second financing round.

It’s unclear if this means that the authorities will hold the users, rather than the site, responsible for future video seediness. I wonder what this means for the 83 filth-loving, positive voters?