Chinese content platforms Weibo and Tencent Video pledge self-discipline, says industry group

Chinese content platforms including Weibo and Tencent Video have now come together and agreed to
enforce more self-discipline to help maintain a “clear” cyberspace environment, a government-
affiliated industry association said.
Chinese regulators last month cracked down on what they call a “chaotic” celebrity fan culture after a
series of scandals involving artists. The authorities barred platforms from publishing lists of popular
celebrities and ordered fan groups to be regulated.
The China Association of Performing Arts (CAPA) said it met with platform representatives, who
pledged to promote only “healthy” content with positive values, to refrain from using data and traffic
as their main guide and to stop encouraging “false hype”.
Fourteen platforms signed the pledge, CAPA said in a WeChat statement, including short video
platform Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, and news aggregator Jinri Toutiao, both owned by
ByteDance.
Weibo, Tencent and ByteDance did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The platforms will further strengthen their management of accounts and restrict those that spread
baseless star gossip or stir up conflicts between fan groups, CAPA said. They will also encourage users
to actively report illegal content.
“The participating platforms reached a consensus that in order to maintain a clean cyberspace
environment and strengthen the construction of online cultural content, companies should carry out
more proactive self discipline,” it said.