Beijing shuts down thousands of illegal live streaming accounts

Thousands of illegal accounts have been shut down by Beijing-based live streaming websites since a regulation went into effect on Dec. 1, authorities said Tuesday.

Reports of violent, obscene and vulgar content on live streaming websites abound. In November, the Cyberspace Administration of China published a regulation that bans the use of live streams to undermine national security, destabilize society, disturb social order, infringe upon others' rights and interests, and disseminate inappropriate content, including pornography.

According to the regulation, service providers are obliged to censor content before releasing it and are instructed to establish a system that would allow them to block improper live streams immediately.

So far, more than 4,500 accounts on the Beijing-based websites were closed and more than 3,100 illegal live streaming programs have been removed, according to Beijing's cyberspace administration.

Officials with the administration said they will enhance regulation efforts to "safeguard order in the Internet industry." They also called on the public to join in supervision. Endi