China's live streaming platforms lose one million users

来源:China Plus 时间:2017-10-20 09:20:48

China's live streaming industry has witnessed a drop of over one million users in the past six months, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) said.

Figures from the CNNIC showed China's online streaming user numbers declined to 343 million in June, accounting for 45.6 percent of the country's total online population.

As of December 2016, account numbers on live streaming platforms hit 344 million, representing 47.1 percent of Chinese Internet users.

The overall decline has been seen as an alarm bell for the country's "live streaming fever."

China's live streaming industry took off in 2016, taking advantage of the boom in mobile live-streaming, hexun.com reported.

According to several reports issued by third-party organizations in 2016, there were over 200 live streaming companies in China, and the market scale reached 9 billion yuan.

Various Internet giants have joined the game, including Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu.

However, the industry fell into chaos.

Live streaming hosts were blamed for broadcasting illegal content.

Some were criticized for wearing military or police uniforms or being scantily dressed and acting flirtatiously.

Others were accused of inducing fans to engage in prostitution via their WeChat or QQ accounts during live streams.

Considerable monetary rewards given by fans to support live-streaming hosts are also being criticized as "irrational."

A number of app operators have been punished for the lack of a mechanism to censor content, as well as failing to deduct tax from payments to hosts, according to authorities.

Chinese authorities have vowed to step up inspection and law enforcement on the industry.

A regulation on live streaming was issued by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) in November 2016, making it compulsory for hosts to register with their real names.

The regulation also bans the use of live streams to disseminate inappropriate content, and blacklists users who break the rules.

Over 100 live streaming platforms are estimated to have been closed so far, due to poor management or illegal operations.

Experts believe that the recent "crisis" for China's live streaming industry has created an opportunity for transformation.

Hosts should calm down and focus on providing better content for users to build a healthier industry for the long term, they said.

责任编辑:胡立荣
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