Sexual content banned from Chinese TV

Sexually explicit television shows have been banned from China's airwaves in a bid to clean up content and encourage "socialist" values, Reuters reported. The order was given by the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) following the screening of a reality program on plastic surgery operations on a Guangdong province channel. Authorities have also taken steps to ban shows featuring "public participation" in sex-change operations. "All levels of television broadcasters must not air any vulgar content involving sexual experiences or functions of sex toys and birth control devices, effective immediately," SARFT announced. The move is seen as part of a wider effort to crackdown on increasingly liberal television broadcasters. Officials have already urged them to reject "vulgarity" and "weirdness" in their pursuit of higher ratings.