Across The Border | China’s crackdown on internet live-streaming to shake up the industry
Chinese regulators have tightened their oversight of the streaming industry significantly, requiring sites to increase the censorship of content
The golden days may be gone for these young streaming stars who work for many fledging live video channels. As the Chinese authorities step up their control of the internet and carry out their latest crackdown on live-streaming broadcasters, the booming industry faces a shake-up, with many smaller players poised to suffer a funding squeeze and be driven out of the market or acquired by industry leaders, according to analysts.
China’s Ministry of Culture (MOC), which is responsible for the protection of traditional Chinese culture, has launched a massive inspection on “online performance service providers” targeting “vulgarity”, “obscenity”, and “wrong life values”, with half of the country’s streaming site operators to be randomly selected in the first round, as the inspection target, the ministry said in a recent announcement.
Those to be inspected in round one include the top social networking app Momo, game video streaming website Douyu TV, e-sport streaming site Panda TV, online video-sharing site 6Rooms, Dubsmash-like app Xiaokaxiu, and some internet companies with video channel services, such as New York-listed Qihoo 360 Technology.
The moves came after the MOC unveiled new regulations on the streaming industry at the end of last year.
The State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT), China’s top media censor body, also pledged in September to “intensify the supervision of the live streaming industry”.