Opposition against a government proposal to overhaul Hong Kong’s extradition laws to allow suspects to be sent to mainland China for the first time ever is so widespread that it drew over a million people on to the streets in a weekend demonstration. Normally quiet business groups have also spoken out against it. Also joining the list of opposition voices are Hong Kong’s adult sites.
As tens of thousands of protesters occupied the streets surrounding key government buildings in central Hong Kong this morning (June 12) in anticipation of the second reading of the extradition bill in the legislature, two local porn sites voiced their support. On its landing page, ThisAV.com displayed an expletive-laden message addressed to Hong Kong officials and pro-Beijing lawmakers expressing the site’s opposition to the extradition law with the help of multiple references to genitals.
ThisAV’s message today follows on from one that that greeted users a few days ago, when it exhorted visitors to its site to attend the “life or death” protests on June 9 against the extradition law instead of “jerking off at home.” Over a million people turned out for the protest, according to organizer estimates.
In a tweet, the founder of ThisAV asked media to stop portraying the site as “some kind of conscientious website,” as they do not compare to “other companies that are truly conscientious.” The founder, who did not name himself on Twitter, added that he merely was providing a platform to express what “most Hong Kong people are thinking.” Local newspaper Apple Daily reported (link in Chinese) that the website has a history of supporting pro-democracy causes in Hong Kong.
Another site, AV01, said it suspended operations starting yesterday (June 11) as part of a wave of strikes by businesses who are against the extradition law. “Do you want to live the rest of your life looking over your shoulder? There will be no more safe place or security. The government has failed you, the system has failed you, the society has failed you, do you want to fail yourself?” it wrote on its landing page.
ThisAV, however, reminded visitors in small text on its landing page that its normal content remained accessible on its mobile site.
It isn’t the first time that Hong Kong’s adult industry has taken part in civic movements. A well-known local adult magazine called Lung Fu Pao, for example, supported the 1989 student demonstrations in Beijing and donated all its proceeds to the movement.
At the time of writing, protesters continued to occupy areas around government complexes in Hong Kong’s Admiralty district, while the president of the Legislative Council announced that the second reading of the bill, that was scheduled to take place this morning, would be postponed.