China Punishes ByteDance, Tencent-Backed Apps in Clampdown
- Regulators order halts to user signups, some content updates
- Clampdown affects 10 of country’s biggest livestreaming apps
China has penalized 10 of the country’s most popular livestreaming apps, suspending some of their operations in a renewed crackdown on fast-growing services backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd. and ByteDance Ltd.
Regulators singled out ByteDance’s Xigua and three apps run by Tencent-backed firms -- Bilibili Inc., Huya Inc. and DouYu International Holdings Ltd. -- among those subject to punishments ranging from halting new user sign-ups to suspending content updates for “main channels,” the Cyberspace Administration of China said in a notice posted Tuesday. The watchdog said those services must rectify vulgar and other problematic content and that it’s blacklisted selected live-streaming hosts, without elaborating. NetEase Inc.’s CC Live and Baidu Inc.’s Quanmin were also among those named.