A video was doing rounds on social media as a woman was masturbating inside an IKEA store in China and sparked a huge controversy. Now, the multinational furniture giant has released an official statement saying it will take ‘more careful’ security measures in its shops.
The clip, that has been shared on various pornographic websites, shows a woman pleasuring herself on various sofas and beds in an IKEA showroom, as shoppers walk by.
According to an AFP report, the uncensored versions of the clip have been removed from Chinese social media. The Swedish company responded to the incident with a video, that has garnered close to 10 million views.
Ikea has said it will take “more careful” security measures in its shops in China after an explicit video of a woman masturbating in one of its stores went viral online.
“We resolutely oppose and condemn this kind of behaviour, and immediately reported it to the police in the city of the suspected store,” Ikea said in a statement, without revealing the name of the branch.
The homeware group said on Saturday that it would take “even more careful security and public cleanliness measures” and encouraged all customers to “browse stores in an orderly and civilised way”.
The identity of the woman and the person who filmed it have not been revealed.
Some Chinese social media users have speculated it was a store in Guangdong province, as Cantonese — spoken in parts of southern China — can be heard in the background store announcements.
Police arrested five people, including the young couple in the video, over the matter, while Uniqlo firmly denied that it was a publicity stunt.
The clip “severely violated socialist core values,” the Chinese Cyberspace Administration said at the time.
Chinese citizens can face up to ten days’ administrative detention for deliberate public nudity, while those who upload and disseminate obscene content online face up to 15 days’ detention and a maximum fine of 3,000 yuan.
