This came after a recent crackdown led by the Cyberspace Administration of China, the country's top Internet watchdog, found that 10 of 31 livestreaming platforms, including gaming site Douyu and video-sharing platform Bilibili, were spreading vulgar content.
Most platforms or operators are reluctant to deal with reports of such content because problematic hosts with many followers can help them attract views, "and views mean profit," Wang Sixin, a professor specializing in Internet rules and laws at Communication University of China, was quoted as saying in the report.
However, it is impossible for authorities to constantly monitor the industry, and lightly punishing hosts is an ad hoc solution, he added.
Zhu Wei, deputy director of the Communication Law Research Center at China University of Political Science and Law, suggested the authorities introduce a classification system for managing livestreaming hosts.
If the levels or qualification standards of hosts can be clarified and regulated by authorities, supervision of these platforms would be more effective, he said.
By March, China had 560 million livestreaming users, 163 million more than that in December 2018, said the China Internet Network Information Center in a report in April. Content related to gaming, e-commerce and reality shows are popular among them, it added.
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