China targets vulgar, deceptive livestreaming practices

China's top cyberspace regulator said on Wednesday that a special campaign targeting violations in online livestreaming has so far shut down more than 73,000 problematic livestream rooms and 24,000 accounts.

The Cyberspace Administration of China said the violations involved "vulgar group livestreams that lure users into tipping, fake personas designed to deceive viewers, inducing minors to give tips, and pushing users toward irrational spending."

The campaign began in late October. Authorities said it has had a strong deterrent effect, with notable improvements in sectors where tipping-related misconduct had been concentrated. Practices such as comparison-oriented tipping and deceptive tipping have been effectively curbed.

Major livestreaming platforms and their parent firms, including Douyin, Kuaishou and Tencent, have strengthened their management of livestream tipping during the campaign. Douyin has issued detailed rules for managing group livestreaming content and related institutions. Kuaishou and Douyu have tightened review standards on livestream attire, dance moves, on-camera interactions and content expressions.

Tencent has upgraded its detection models for identifying sensitive body exposure, suggestive movements and multi-host scenarios, improving its capability to identify borderline vulgar content.

The regulator also noted that the livestreaming platform Showself introduced a "cooling-off period" for large or repeated high-value tips made within a short time.