Internet pornography was outlawed in the People's Republic of China effective 2002, when state censors issued guidelines requiring that all websites remove any pornographic material.
In Hong Kong, pornography is illegal if sold or shown to children under 18 years of age, if it is publicly displayed (except within the confines of and only visible from inside a "bona fide art gallery or museum"), or if it is sold without being wrapped completely with an "easily noticeable" warning stating that the material may be offensive and may not be distributed to minors.
[9] The first true pink film, and the first Japanese movie with nude scenes, was Satoru Kobayashi's controversial and popular independent production, Flesh Market (Nikutai no Ichiba, 1962), starring Tamaki Katori.
[12] In 2007 the Seoul-based online newspaper Daily NK reported that pornographic literature was produced in North Korea for high-ranking officials during the late 1990s.
[13] Imported works of pornography have been available in North Korea in recent decades, mainly in the capital Pyongyang and typically in the form of CD-R copies bought secretly at markets.
[20] In Taiwan, pornographic films can be legally traded and pornography is available via a number of routes, including DVD, television and the Internet.
[23] The broadness of the law has concerned practitioners of regional traditions such as the nightclubs in Bali, West Javan jaipong dance, and New Guinean penis gourd wearing.
[30] The Printing Presses and Publications Act of 1984 subjects all offline media (such as newspapers, television, and radio stations) to licensing regimes granted at the discretion of ministers.
The system creates a "data library" of users which includes details such as IP addresses, websites, locations, duration and frequency of use, and files uploaded and downloaded.
Many users of the Internet in Myanmar cannot access content outside the country, and a significant number of pornographic websites are blocked using content-control software.
[34] Since 14 January 2017, several pornographic websites including Pornhub and XVideos have been blocked in the Philippines upon the order of President Rodrigo Duterte as part of his Republic Act 9775 or Anti-Child Pornography Law.
[38] The Yangtze Cinema, opened on 27 January 1977, which was probably the only theatre on the island to primarily screen softcore films in the city-state, also closed its doors on February 29, 2016.
[39] The 287th section of the Thai Penal Code makes it a criminal offence to produce, distribute or possess obscene materials for the purpose of trade.
[44] The legal status of pornography in Kazakhstan was changed in 2013 with the introduction of the law: "On Ratification of the International Convention for Suppression of the Circulation and Traffic of Obscene Publications".
"[51] In July 2015 the Supreme Court of India refused to allow the blocking of pornographic websites and said that watching pornography indoors in the privacy of ones own home was not a crime.
[57] In 2015 the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had asked internet service providers to take down 857 websites in a bid to control cyber crime, but after receiving criticism from the authorities it partially rescinded the ban.
The ban from the government came after a lawyer filed a petition in the Supreme Court arguing that online pornography encourages sex crimes and rapes.
[58] In February 2016 the Supreme Court asked the Indian Government to suggest ways of banning all forms of child pornography.
[59] In October 2018 the government directed Internet service providers to block 827 websites that host pornographic content following an order by the Uttarakhand High Court, according to official sources.
Although the Uttarakhand High Court had asked for the blocking of 857 websites, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) discovered that 30 of these had no pornographic content and removed them from the list.
The court asked the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to ban pornographic websites in India, citing an incident in Dehradun where a 10th standard girl was raped by four of her seniors.
Following the order from the Uttarakhand High Court and the regulations of the DoT, Internet Service Providers in India banned pornographic websites across the country.
[60] The production, possession, sale, dissemination, distribution, or importation of pornography or pornographic material (including sex toys) is illegal in Maldives.
[62] In September 2018, concerns about violence against women led the Government of Nepal to announce its intention to ban online pornography.
In Iran, a law was passed in mid-2007 by parliament but still required approval of the Guardian Council, producers of pornographic films face execution if found guilty.
[citation needed] In September 2011, four members of a criminal ring involved in the sale of pornographic films were arrested by Lebanese authorities.
The men, of Lebanese and Syrian nationality, had been promoting the sale of unlicensed copies of pornographic DVDs in different areas of the country, particularly Byblos, north of Beirut, where they were apprehended.
The men were referred to the relevant authorities, with the case investigated to uncover the remaining members of the ring and anyone else involved in the distribution of the pornographic films.