China bans ‘erotic’ banana eating online

China has banned the “erotic” eating of bananas over the internet in its latest crackdown on “inappropriate” content online.

State media reports that the government has made filming “seductive” eating of the fruit illegal, as well as the streaming of it.

CCTV News said that “China’s burgeoning online live streaming scene is increasingly giving cyber authorities more ethical and regulatory dilemmas as web hosts push the bounds of ‘acceptability’ to increase their viewership”.

China has already banned homosexual content, swearing, and an innocuous time travel film online this year.

Sites must now monitor live streams to ensure nothing “inappropriate” is happening — including the seductive eating of bananas and wearing of stockings on webcam.

Live stream sites are a growing business in China. Around 26%t of live-streaming viewers are under 18 and 60% of those creating the content are under 22.

The audience is predominantly male, and models — who have to skilfully dodge censorship laws — can make a decent living from getting fans to pay for gifts.

One live stream site user wrote: “They will all start eating cucumbers, and if that’s no good, yams.”