Weibo disables video uploads longer than 15 minutes, amid regulator scrutiny

China’s popular social media site Weibo has disabled the function for uploading videos longer than 15 minutes, reflecting its latest efforts to police video content on its platform, following tighter scrutiny by Chinese regulators last week.

The Nasdaq-listed Weibo said in statement on Wednesday night that it has “sincerely accepted the criticism from government”, and would immediately take action to “improve the management of audio and video programmes” on its platform, which has more than 340 million monthly active users.

Analysts said that some of the new rules introduced by Weibo -- such as blocking television and film content published by unlicensed accounts as well as banning video longer than 15 minutes -- may hurt the Twitter-like service’s user engagement, even as the company’s business remains intact in the near term.

“We think this [new rule] will have a small impact on Weibo’s business because not all the video content are removed and even if certain accounts are closed, Weibo can move advertisements, which are the main source for its revenue, to other accounts,” said Ella Ji, the New York-based analyst with China Renaissance Securities US.

Ji cautioned that it was too early to tell what impact the new measures would have on user behaviour.

“What’s more important is Weibo’s user activity. If Weibo’s user base declines because it loses certain eye-catching content, it may impact the ad revenue,” she said, adding that data shows Weibo’s daily active user base has remained largely stable recently.