China Fines Tencent, Tech Giants Over Child Exploitation

  • Regulator vows to tackle online education, animation issues
  • Tech giants are under scrutiny over antitrust, data security
Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
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Chinese internet regulators slapped fines on technology firms including Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. for spreading sexually suggestive content involving children.

Kuaishou Technology, Tencent’s QQ, Alibaba’s Taobao, Weibo Corp. and Little Red Book were ordered to remove the offending accounts and pay an unspecified amount in fines, the Cyberspace Administration of China said in a statement Tuesday. The penalties were issued as part of a campaign to tackle online content deemed “harmful to the physical and mental well-being of minors.”