China cracks down on vulgar online ASMR content

BEIJING - China's leading task force on fighting pornography has ordered a number of websites to delete obscene ASMR content.

The National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications on Friday ordered websites including 163.com, baidu.com, bilibili.com, missevan.com, and qingting.fm to remove ASMR-related pornographic content.

ASMR -- autonomous sensory meridian response -- is a kind of tingling feeling that typically begins on the scalp and moves down the body in response to certain stimuli. ASMR contents, mainly audios and video clips, are mainly used for relaxing or helping sleep.

Due to inadequate monitoring, some audio and video clips and pictures involving obscenities and pornography have been spread online under the guise of ASMR, the office said.

Platforms that spread obscene audio clips should assume administrative responsibilities, and should take legal responsibilities if they break the law, the office said.