Chinese authorities have told three of the country’s major websites to shut down their livestreaming services as they allegedly contain political commentary in violation of local laws. Affected by the ban are Twitter-like Sina Weibo, video and game streaming site AcFun, and news portal Ifeng.com.
Reuters reports that the authorities haven’t given the platforms a specific deadline to abide by, and haven’t mentioned whether this ban is temporary or permanent. China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television said in a statement that the move will “provide a clean and clear internet space for the wide number of online users.”
Weibo Corporation has told Reuters that it’s currently looking into the notice and assessing the impact on its operations. Shares of both Weibo Corp and SINA Corp dipped following the news by 9 percent and 6 percent, respectively.
China is known to have strict censorship laws. Popular websites including Facebook, YouTube and Twitch are already banned in the country.
