Live-streaming of seductive banana eating banned in China

Eating a banana in a "seductive" manner while live-streaming has been banned in China.

The move is the government’s latest attempt to clamp down on “inappropriate and erotic” online content, the state-controlled CCTV reported.

The banana ban has prompted thousands of users to post on Chinese social media asking how the rule will be enforced, says the BBC.

“How do they decide what’s provocative when eating a banana?” one person asks.

Many think people will be able to get around the banana ban: “They will all start eating cucumbers, and if that’s no good, yams,” one social media user says.

New regulations mean that live-streaming sites must monitor all their output 24 hours a day to ensure nothing untoward, such as banana eating, is going on.

According to the Chinese New Express Daily newspaper, wearing stockings and suspenders while live-streaming is now also forbidden.

Iin April, China’s ministry of culture announced it was investigating a number of popular live-streaming platforms such as Panda.tv, YY and Zhanqi TV for allegedly hosting pornographic or violent content that “harms social morality”, reports CCTV.

Despite the government’s concerns, such sites are attracting more and more users in China.

New Express Daily cites data showing that 26 per cent of live-streaming viewers are under 18, while 60 per cent of those creating the content are under 22 years old. Three-quarters of those watching are male.

Particularly popular are webcam sessions where young women entertain a predominantly male audience, often singing Chinese songs or chatting to their viewers.

The massive number of grassroots live-streaming broadcasters across China can offer web hosts not just fans and fame, but also considerable fortunes, CCTV says.

Zhang Qige, one of the more famous web-casters, has over two million subscribers and is estimated to earn at least 1 million yuan (€ 135,117.48) a year.