Taiwan's Adult Film Industry Insights

My name is Lin Siyu, and I am 25 years old.

I am currently a Taiwanese AV actress.

It is my sixth year since my debut.

Twenty years ago, a constitutional ruling narrowed

the scope of what counted as obscene publications,

only banning content involving violence, sexual abuse, or

bestiality.

This made Taiwan the only place in Asia where it was

possible to legally film

and sell uncensored adult videos.

Rough estimate,

the entire adult entertainment industry, including

online content and porn, all of that

probably totals around 20 billion.

Actually, I think that figure is still

underestimated. Lin Siyu said that around 2020

was the peak of Taiwan's AV industry,

with more than 20 adult film producers

across Taiwan,

producing an average of 180

to 300 videos per month. She believes this was related to

the influx of Chinese capital.

At the time, I started my own media

production company, and then, um,

a mainland Chinese production company came to me.

They messaged me privately, asking whether I

accepted custom commissions. I'd heard before that Taiwan's

adult industry was supported by mainland China's gambling

gray-market money.

The custom films or gambling films Siyu mentioned

are usually uploaded for free to funnel traffic

to online gambling platforms,

with producers profiting from advertising partnerships. Jack

once joined a leading gambling-film producer,

one of Taiwan's largest adult film companies at the time,

Madou Media.

Of course, no one would ever directly

tell you, “We're a Chinese company.”

But once we joined the company,

everyone would, um, be issued their own

company phone. On it,

all daily reports you submitted and all

the text you sent had to first

be converted into simplified Chinese. Even our salaries

were not calculated in Taiwan dollars,

they were calculated in U.S. dollars.

Jack also said

the company once rebranded itself,

invested heavily in self-produced films,

and made huge profits from them.

But industry insiders say that in early 2023,

demand for Chinese custom films suddenly

fell off a cliff. BBC Chinese found in

interviews that this timing almost coincided with Beijing's

major crackdown on telecom fraud

and online gambling.

In early 2026,

Prince Group founder Chen Zhi was

extradited back to China to stand trial on allegations of

cross-border gambling and fraud. Earlier, the Taiwanese

government also arrested several suspects from the group in Taiwan

and concluded that they had set up an adult

film platform to funnel traffic to online casinos.

A few months later, Madou Media, the former industry

leader, suddenly announced it was ceasing operations.

Although many signs indicate

that Taiwan’s adult film industry and

mainland China’s gray-market industry are

closely linked, Taiwan’s authorities seem to have

no related policies or regulations.

We contacted government agencies such as the Ministry of Culture and

the National Communications Commission,

but they declined to comment, saying it was outside their jurisdiction.

In the absence of industry standards,

disorder has also emerged,

and many adult actresses have fallen into

the traps of so-called AV contracts.

They asked whether I wanted to take the job, saying 30,000

for two films, with the sex scenes

totaling only about ten minutes.

After I finished filming,

I later got to know that producer.

The producer told me

that the price he offered was around

100,000 to 120,000.

Only then did I realize

that so much had been skimmed off. Many people

have been victimized like me.

As investment declines,

film production has fallen. En-en says

operating their own social media has become

a new path for many on-camera performers.

Yet the industry chaos and social problems caused by the unchecked growth

of Taiwan’s AV industry still remain.

Some scholars believe that even if

society struggles to reach a consensus on the adult film industry,

authorities should still establish regulatory standards.

Industry insiders believe regulations are a double-edged sword,

and industry self-regulation is even more important.

My thinking is that

we should gradually build up

a sense of contractual integrity within

the industry, and similar things,

step by step.

Regulations should come last.

Li Fa, a director for an adult film company,

entered the industry only in 2023 and has never accepted funding from

mainland China. He hopes to take a path

different from Chinese-funded productions.

People’s stereotypes about previous Chinese-funded productions

are pretty negative.

People would say things like,

“Oh, the actresses are ugly,

covered in tattoos,

there are watermarks all over the screen,

and the dialogue is awkward,”

that sort of thing.

We don’t want that. We

extensively reference Western and

Japanese standards.

I think Taiwan has a great advantage.

You can have Chinese faces

while still being uncensored.

That’s a great advantage.