Three adult-content apps shut down in one sweep, involving 100 million yuan and 7,000 streamers

[4] Compiled from: Red Star News
 
On December 13, the Public Security Bureau of Yueyang County, Hunan Province, reported that it had recently cracked a major case of online organized obscene performances through meticulous investigation, successfully shutting down three pornographic apps. It is understood that these pornographic apps involved over 400,000 users, 7,000 female streamers, and nearly 100 million yuan in involved funds.

 
 

Case review
On October 15 of this year, the Cybersecurity Division of the Yueyang County Public Security Bureau discovered a pop-up advertisement on a certain website during an online patrol. After clicking on the advertisement and downloading it, they found an app named “Mouhuo” suspected of hosting pornographic livestreams. Officers conducted random spot checks on several female streamers’ livestream rooms within the app and found that all the streamers checked were providing users with “one-on-one” pornographic livestreams at 6 yuan per minute. Through an investigation of the app’s financial transaction records, they found that a person surnamed Li from Yueyang County, known as Li Mou Xiao, was suspected of organizing the establishment of the pornographic app “Mouhuo.”

 
 

Through various investigative methods, the organizational structure and criminal facts of the "Mou Huo" app gradually came to light before the special task force. At the same time, the task force successfully identified the main criminal suspects in the case—Hou, Li Mou-xiao, and Tong—along with several other suspects. The task force discovered that Hou, Li Mou-xiao, Tong, and the others were also suspected of organizing and operating two other pornographic apps of the same type, "Mou Lan" and "Xin Mou Lin."
 
Through further analysis, the task force discovered that approximately 7,000 female streamers performed across these three pornographic apps, providing users with “one-on-one” nude video chat obscene performances. After registering as members, users could top up and exchange for virtual coins, and through different methods such as tipping virtual coins and sending gifts, they could prompt the streamers to engage in obscene performances of varying degrees of nudity. The three pornographic apps had a total of over 400,000 registered users, with involved funds amounting to nearly 100 million RMB. The pornographic streamers were spread across multiple provinces and cities nationwide, including Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Fujian.
 
 
"Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China" Article 365
Whoever organizes obscene performances shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, or public surveillance, and shall also be fined; if the circumstances are serious, the sentence shall be fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years, and shall also be fined.

 
 

 
[1] The author's perspective
This case not only involves a wide geographical scope but also a large number of individuals and substantial amounts of money, demonstrating that online criminal activities have a greater impact. It is reported that these three pornographic apps attracted so many streamers and users to register through a “referral” model, whereby for each female streamer recruited, the recruiter could receive a “bounty” of 3% to 6% of the tips users gave to that streamer; for each new user brought in, the recruiter could receive a “bounty” of 35% to 40% of the user’s tips. As a result, the three pornographic apps were able to grow rapidly in a short period of time.
 
Based on the case analysis, the criminal suspects are mainly suspected of the crime of organizing obscene performances. It is worth noting that this charge only applies to organizers; female streamers who merely perform do not constitute this crime. Clearly, organizers have intent in organizing obscene performances, and regardless of whether it is for profit, this crime can be established.
 
The author believes that the act of organizing obscene performances not only easily induces other illegal and criminal activities but also harms people's physical and mental health, and even violates social moral standards and public order. Therefore, such criminal acts must be strictly combated according to law, which is of great significance for maintaining social order, purifying the social environment, protecting people's physical and mental health, and promoting spiritual civilization.