The national office "against pornography and illegal publications" of China announced ASMR video streaming platforms including Bilibili, Kuaishou, which need to “thoroughly clean up vulgar and pornographic content," according to Xinhua's post on June 8. And while the agency called for a crackdown specifically on content that is “vulgar” or sexual, many of China’s leading video hosting sites have scrubbed all ASMR videos.

ASMR, which stands for an autonomous sensory meridian response, refers to the sounds of people whispering, tapping or stroking a microphone, or eating foods to create a sense of relaxation for their audiences.

The euphoric feeling has been labeled by some as an "attention-induced head orgasm" or "head tingling."

According to a paper which talks about the ASMR media consumers from the United States and Western Europe in 2015, the researchers found that 82 percent of participants reported using ASMR as a sleep aid, 70 percent used them as a way to decrease stress, and only five percent said using ASMR media for sexual stimulation.

Since the office's statement, after the regulatory authorities verified, they confirmed some platforms have a considerable number of videos and images with strong sexual connotations, which spreading vulgar or pornographic content under the pretense of ASMR.

“A huge part of ASMR audiences are young people,” the statement indicated. 

“All internet platforms must seriously fulfill their duties, and increase efforts to clean up websites, implement content review processes, and protect minors from harmful content.”

"Good ASMR contents have positive influence to stress," a Weibo user commented on the CCTV's official account.

"ASMR was a good subculture, but indeed, it should be controlled earlier," some consumers support the statement.

ASMR is not a magical thing, due to lax regulation on various social platforms, this form may expose the value.

In response, many streaming platforms like Youku, Bilibili, and Douyu have since taken down all ASMR content after Jun 8.

(Cover image from VCG.)