Supporting data for “Extra Legal Governance in Cyberspace: The Case of Illegal Online Sexual Fiction Market in China”

Theoretical framework of the thesis. It includes the criminal network framework and extralegal governance.This thesis is an empirical study on the illegal online sexual fiction market in China, which majorly consists of underage female participants. Drawing on empirical data from 29 in-depth interviews with adult participants, including females and other genders, informal interactions, and online observations, it provides rich insider data that contributes to the study of illegal online markets and extra-legal governance. It reveals respondents’ lived experiences and interactions in the illegal market and their perspectives on sexual fictions. Respondents’ distinctive understanding of sex, sexual desires, and sexual fictions results in moral conflicts against the mainstream gendered norms in China, provoking moral scruples. Due to the anonymous milieu of the illegal online market, participants can conceal their true identities and satisfy their sexual desires with sexual fiction without concerns of moral scruples. By mitigating the moral scruples, the illegal online market provides a safe house for them to exercise their ‘perceived freedom and rights’ in trading the sexual fictions.Apart from moral scruples, the thesis argues that market participants need to handle exchange risks and intellectual property right infringement provoked by legal risk as well. The absence of legal protection on informal intellectual property rights and legal support in contract enforcement makes the illegal market an optimistic environment for opportunistic behaviours, such as intellectual property right infringement, deterring the motivation for sellers to produce and trade the original sexual fictions. Buyers fall prey to dishonest sellers as well. For instance, sellers disappear after receiving the payment or deliver poor quality fictions. Anonymity intensifies these risks by reducing participants’ ability to force payment and govern over the illegal market. Furthermore, they need to remain low-profile to avoid police attention. These risks hinder cooperation.To foster cooperation, scholars argue that trust is the ‘cure-all remedy.’ However, this thesis disagrees and further argues that participants cooperate by signals of trustworthiness by providing empirical data. Signals are publicly observable features that help determine one’s trustworthiness. The thesis constructs the framework of cyber-extralegal governance to understand the institutions deployed by participants to signal trustworthiness to cooperate. It understands the illegal online market as layers of networks constituted by different actors – sellers, buyers, and online platforms. This framework pertains to <i>system-based institutions</i><i> </i>and <i>individual-based institutions</i>. Online platforms need to compete with others and attract users by signaling trustworthiness to the users. <i>System-based institutions</i> facilitate the cooperation between online platforms and users. In contrast, <i>individual-based institutions</i> are developed for the cooperation between human users, which are intertwined with and affected by <i>system-based institutions</i>. This thesis illustrates these institutions by deriving empirical data from the illegal online sexual fiction market in China.

本论文的理论框架涵盖犯罪网络框架与法外治理（extralegal governance）。本研究为针对中国境内非法网络色情小说市场的实证研究，该市场的主要参与者为未成年女性群体。

研究依托针对成年参与者（含女性及其他性别群体）的29次深度访谈（in-depth interviews）、非正式互动与线上观察所获实证数据，获取了丰富的内部资料，可为非法网络市场及法外治理研究提供有力支撑。

研究揭示了受访者在非法市场中的生活体验与互动情况，以及其对色情小说的看法。受访者对性、性欲望与色情小说的独特认知，使其产生与中国主流社会性别规范相悖的道德冲突，引发道德顾虑。

由于非法网络市场的匿名性环境，参与者可隐匿真实身份，借助色情小说满足性欲望而无需担忧道德顾虑。通过缓解道德顾虑，该非法网络市场为他们提供了一处"安全港湾"，使其得以在色情小说交易中行使自身"感知的自由与权利"。

除道德顾虑外，本论文指出，市场参与者还需应对由法律风险引发的交易风险与知识产权侵权（intellectual property right infringement）问题。非正式知识产权缺乏法律保护，合同执行也无法律支持，这使得非法市场为投机行为（如知识产权侵权）提供了可乘之机，抑制了创作者生产与交易原创色情小说的动机。买家也可能遭遇不诚信卖家的欺诈，例如卖家收款后失联，或交付低质量的小说内容。匿名性削弱了参与者强制履约与管控非法市场的能力，进而加剧了上述风险。此外，参与者需保持低调以规避警方关注。此类风险阻碍了市场合作的开展。

有学者提出，信任是解决合作问题的"万能良药"。但本论文对此提出异议，并结合实证数据进一步指出，参与者通过传递可信性信号实现合作。可信性信号指可被公众观测到的、有助于判断一方可信度的特征。本论文构建了网络法外治理（cyber-extralegal governance）框架，以理解参与者为传递可信性信号、促成合作所搭建的各类制度。

本研究将非法网络市场理解为由不同主体（卖家、买家与线上平台）构成的多层网络。该框架涵盖**基于系统的制度（system-based institutions）**与**基于个体的制度（individual-based institutions）**两类。线上平台需通过向用户传递可信性信号与其他平台竞争，以吸引用户。基于系统的制度促进线上平台与用户之间的合作；与之相对，基于个体的制度则为人类用户间的合作而设立，且此类制度与基于系统的制度相互交织、彼此影响。本论文通过从中国非法网络色情小说市场获取的实证数据，对上述两类制度进行了阐释。