China is tightening its grip on livestreaming sites as it steps up efforts to rein in big tech companies and strengthen online censorship, in a move that could curb growth in the booming sector.
New regulations for the industry, in which viewers interact with and send virtual gifts to online performers, increase controls on content, ban teenagers from making purchases and limit the total spending by any single user. They also tighten rules on livestreaming ecommerce, where hosts promote goods to shoppers, one of China’s fastest growing areas of online shopping.
The State Administration for Radio, Film and Television’s rules, announced late on Monday, come after the coronavirus pandemic prompted a surge in spending on livestreaming platforms such as those run by tech groups Alibaba and Kuaishou. The market for virtual gifts was worth Rmb180bn ($27bn) last year, according to iResearch, while total goods ordered via livestreams hit Rmb451bn.