China's cyber watchdog punishes live-streaming sites for 'low taste'

[HONG KONG] China's cyber watchdog has penalised several of the country's leading live-streaming and video platforms for spreading "low taste" content, reprimanding women wearing low cut clothes and men for indecent dancing and using foul language.

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in a notice posted on Tuesday that there is an "unhealthy phenomenon" prevalent among the 31 major livestreaming sites in the country.

CAC said 10 firms, including Bilibili, Tencent-backed Huya, Douyu, Bytedance's ixigua and Baidu's quanminxiaoshipin, would be asked to freeze main channel updates, stop new user registrations, and revamp their platforms before a deadine.

It also called on them to punish platform supervisors and to blacklist "delinquent livestreamers", depending on the seriousness of the violations.

It also said some platforms are using online learning to promote video games, and fail to censor "illegal information" on its comments section.

The government heavily regulates its cyberspace and often scrubs content like violence, pornography, or politically sensitive speeches or commentary from social media.

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Earlier this month CAC took issue with Sina Weibo over separate matter, ordering it to disable some features for a week.

The action came after some Sina Weibo users complained their posts were being censored, after the relationship between a senior executive in the Alibaba Group and a prominent social media influencer came under scrutiny.

REUTERS