Baidu Browser is one of eight products that Chinese internet giant Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) plans to launch in Indonesia. While it’s gaining quite a lot of users – about two million to date – it’s worth noting that Baidu Browser has stuffed the app full of pictures of beautiful girls. Maybe I’m too old-fashioned but I believe that this tactic has certain risks when employed in Indonesia.
First things first, sexy pictures 1. You can find it on Baidu Browser’s second page: the news and pictures section. The Indonesian version lets you choose eight picture categories inside the app, and three of them revolve around women in sexy clothes. What are the categories names? “cute girls”, “beautiful girls”, and “naughty girls” 2.
Haters gonna hate?
While sexy photos will definitely help attract eyeballs, they might also attract haters in Indonesia: worried parents and conservative religious groups. Understandably, some parents wouldn’t want their children to surf some pictures of women in bikinis. Same goes for the hard-line religious which pressured the recent Miss World pageant in Indonesia to scrap its bikini contest.
But in contrast to the very public nature of Miss World pageant, apps installed on smartphones aren’t typically viewed as cultural symbols. So there’s a good chance that Baidu’s sexy pictures won’t get too much attention from these people.
When contacted by Tech in Asia, a Baidu Indonesia representative said that they are willing to tone down the content if it’s not acceptable for the Indonesian audience.
Tell us what you think in the comments section.
(Editing by Josh Horwitz and Steven Millward)
This is only available in the Indonesian version of the app. The Hong Kong version doesn’t feature options for sexy pictures. A Baidu Indonesia representative told Tech in Asia that they roll out different content according to each country, which explains the different options in each browser.↩
The exact Indonesian words are “cewek imut”, “cewek cantik”, and “cewek nakal”.↩
The post China’s Baidu risks a backlash in Indonesia over photos of sexy girls appeared first on Tech in Asia.
China’s Baidu risks a backlash in Indonesia over photos of sexy girls
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