Websites ordered to take down ‘sleep aid’ porn

China’s anti-pornography office has told online media companies to clean up vulgar content posted under the guise of a sleep aid.

According to a notice released on the office’s website on Friday, some pornographic content had recently been found online veiled as artistic work meant to bring about Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response.

ASMR describes a feeling of euphoric tingling and relaxation that can come over someone when watching certain videos or hearing certain sounds.

The website of the United State’s National Sleep Foundation said that ASMR can trigger a feeling of relaxation before bedtime, which can help you overcome insomnia.

However, some companies had been using ASMR as a cover for pornographic or erotic content.

Companies required to strengthen video and audio censorship include NetEase Cloud Music, Baidu Netdisk, Bilibili.com and Qingting FM.

The office said companies that fail to censor their content will be penalized. For some content that caused severe negative social influence, the platforms will be prosecuted for criminal liability.

The office also asked those platforms to shoulder the responsibility for cleaning up the content, building a strict supervision system and filtering improper content that could have a bad influence.

It also called for cooperation with law enforcement departments to strengthen the investigation of those content providers.