ByteDance’s Douyin ‘won’t be the last’ to be punished in China’s Big Tech crackdown, state media says
- Short video app Douyin has been fined for spreading ‘obscene, pornographic and vulgar information’
- This is a ‘clear signal’ to China’s internet companies that tighter regulations are coming, state news agency Xinhua says
The National Office for the Fight Against Pornography and Illegal Publications, a government agency tasked with cleaning up China’s web, said on Friday that it fined Douyin the maximum penalty for spreading “obscene, pornographic and vulgar information”.
The regulator did not specify the amount of the fine slapped on ByteDance’s Chinese version of TikTok. But according to a source familiar with the case, it added up to only “tens of thousands of yuan”.
“The amount is tiny for a big company like ByteDance, but the message is clear that [the company] has to toe the line,” said the source, who requested anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.
The official Xinhua news agency said in an editorial a few hours later that Douyin’s punishment was intended to send a “clear signal” to China’s internet companies that tighter regulations are on the way and “you have to follow the rules no matter who you are”.