Live video streaming regulation

By Jiang Xingguang (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated : 2016-12-17

A new regulation on live streaming, in effect since December 1, is designed to help authorities manage online streaming.

Released by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, the regulation makes it compulsory for presenters to register with their real names and obliges service providers to censor content and blacklist users who break the rules, prohibiting them from registering again.

It also bans the use of live streams to undermine national security, destabilize society, disturb social order, infringe upon others’ rights and interests, or disseminate inappropriate content, including pornography.

Online streaming has grown rapidly in China in recent years, generating huge business opportunities while bringing challenges to regulators.

As of June, the number of streaming service users was 514 million, 72.4 percent of China’s Internet population, according to the 2016 China Online Streaming Development Study Report.