One of China's popular live-streaming platforms, which has been accused of hosting vulgar content including pornography and violence, was found to be cooperating with a popular news application to attract viewers, despite the country's ongoing crackdown on online obscenity.
Jinri Toutiao, or today's headlines, is a popular mobile news application which claims to attract more than 63 million readers per day. However, the app was found to be regularly sharing eye-catching photos of sexy girls that linked to the live broadcasting platform named Huoshan Zhibo (volcano live broadcast), which was found to have included pornographic content, reported China Central Television.
Live broadcast programs have low cost but could generate huge profits. Some broadcasters change platforms regularly to avoid punishment. That is why they are still rampant under the country's strict regulation, Wang Sixin, a professor of law at the Communication University of China, told the Global Times on Monday.
Some broadcasters can earn several million yuan per year, Elise Tutu, a popular female broadcaster who is now banned from the live broadcast industry because of her erotic performances, told the Global Times.
The Cyberspace Administration of China shut down 18 live broadcasting applications for spreading vulgar content in early April. It said it will step up its campaign against illegal live broadcast platforms, and welcomes tip-offs from the public.
In July 2016, 26 live broadcasting platforms, including Douyu TV, 6.cn and Panda TV, received warnings from the Ministry of Culture for violating regulations which ban content featuring pornography, violence and illegal behavior.
China's top media regulator has beefed up its supervision by requiring all live broadcasting platforms and their hosts to get a license before running the shows.
However, the CCTV report found that apart from Huoshan Zhibo, other livestreaming platforms were also found to have female broadcasters wearing revealing and seductive clothes in order to obtain virtual gifts that could be converted into cash.
Besides, instant messaging applications, such as WeChat and QQ, have also become hotbeds of vulgar live broadcasts. People can pay 60 ($8.71) to 100 yuan to watch erotic broadcasts on WeChat or QQ chat group, CCTV reported.
