China’s Meipai bans minors from live-streaming service following nudity scandal
Live-streaming is popular among young Chinese who view it as an easy way to become famous – and make lots of money
Meipai, China’s popular short video service operated by the Hong Kong-listed selfie touch-up app Meitu, has banned minors from using its live-streaming service following a scandal involving primary schoolchildren broadcasting nudity online.
Meipai said in a statement on Wednesday that it “immediately decided to ban minors” from live-streaming on its platform after a “bug” was found its system that allowed a few seconds of “inappropriate video” to be inserted in an hour-long live-stream.
The company will also increase its manpower and improve the efficiency of systems used to censor inappropriate content broadcast on its live-streaming platform, Meipai said in a statement posted on its official Weibo account on Tuesday.
Live-streaming has become one of the hottest sectors in China’s rapidly changing internet environment, with nearly 400 million people regularly watching live broadcasts via mobile devices as a new form of entertainment, according to iResearch.
Besides the lure of becoming famous and drawing a huge following of fans, young Chinese are attracted to live streaming by the prospects of making lots of money. Papi Jiang, one of China’s top online celebrities, reportedly made over 50 million yuan (U$7.56 million) in 2016 by posting short videos to entertain her 25.76 million followers on Weibo.