Bilibili Boycotted by Several Business Partners as Criticism Mounts Over Offensive Content
China’s leading video-streaming platform Bilibili is facing a severe backlash on social media due to what critics claim is offensive video content involving child porn, incest, and voyeurism.
On Feb. 10, several female-friendly brands including UKISS, DoMeCare, AMORTALS, Sigo Glass, and Sofy have announced they will end their collaborations with the platform.
“From now on, UKISS will end all kinds of business cooperations with Bilibili. UKISS stands firmly against any kinds of insults to women. We respect every woman and we wish every woman can live to the fullest,” wrote UKISS on Weibo.
The debate around Bilibili was first ignited by top livestreamer Lexburner, who on Feb. 1 went berserk against popular Japanese anime “Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu,” arguing that those who watch it are “bottom-feeders in the social hierarchy” and will “always remain garbage.”
Only a few days later, on Feb. 8, Bilibili sued Lexburner for making “inappropriate remarks”. The livestreamer was among Bilibili’s “Top 100 Uploaders“ (influencer) in 2020, though that honor has now been rescinded.
Later, online discussions on the anime “Mushoku Tensei” went viral as the anime contains stories featuring child porn, incest, and voyeurism. The anime is adapted from an adult cartoon series and depicted a man being reincarnated in a fantasy world, in which he decided to make his life meaningful. The anime included controversial bits like teenager nudity, rape, and voyeurism.
This contentious anime also gave rise to a huge debate on whether art can violate morality or can justify rascality. A Weibo user said that “it is not appropriate for Bilibili to promote this anime on its ‘monthly best anime’ front page since it is a platform targeting all age groups, including younger generations.”
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On Feb.7, Bilibili announced the suspension of the series “due to technical issues” and all previously uploaded episodes were taken down without further explanation.
It is also worth mentioning that users had reported on Bilibili’s pornographic content several times in the past but never received attention. The inaction of the platform was one of the reasons why some users went on a warpath, voluntarily reaching out to Bilibili’s business partners and asking them to terminate their business relationships with the firm.
According to sources, several Bilibili’s key business partners are indeed considering the possibility of ending their business relations with the company.
At the time of writing, Bilibili has made a public announcement (in Chinese) on Weibo, saying the company was processing the reported inappropriate videos and would strengthen content control in the future.
