According to the Ministry of Public Security of China, many overseas pornographic websites are now charging fees via third-party online payment platforms, including Alipay, 99bill.com, and Yeepay.com, in China, making these platforms important payment channels for the websites.
According to local media reports that have revealed details of the Ministry of Public Security's statement, some third-party platforms still provide payment services while knowing these websites are engaged in pornographic businesses and deduct about 15% to 25% of the transacted money as commissions. In addition, Chinese public security organs recently found a large number of pornographic information on Tencent's social networking service website Qzone and about 70 uncovered cases of illegally spreading pornographic goods are related to Qzone.
According to law experts quoted in Chinese media, if third-party payment platforms provide payment services while knowing the services are used to spread pornographic goods and make profits from the services, the platforms can be viewed as accomplices. If website service providers do not eliminate pornographic information after receiving notice from the public security organs and continue to indulge the spread of the information on their websites, their activities can be viewed as deliberate spreads of pornographic goods or the websites can be viewed as accomplices.
In response to the accusation, Alipay, the online payment subsidiary of the Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba, said it always prohibits any illegal trade of its contracted vendors. If it finds such illegal trade, the company will immediately stop providing services to these vendors in accordance to their service agreements and will report to the relevant departments.
