Tencent, Alibaba Group, and Kuaishou fined for sexually suggestive online content

China's internet regulators imposed fines on technology companies, including Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group Holding for spreading sexually suggestive content involving children, Bloomberg reports.

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 imposed as part of a campaign to tackle online content deemed “harmful to the physical and mental well-being of minors.”

The agency will “step up the enforcement of laws and regulations, and punish those who violate the rules,” CAC said in the statement. “There will be a ‘zero tolerance’ approach toward issues that hurt minors.”

In recent months, social media users and state news outlets have called out e-commerce platforms where sellers use suggestive photos of child models to sell goods as well as manipulated gifs and videos that exploit minors. The cyberspace regulator is also planning to tackle under-aged live-streaming, the quality of online education platforms, violent and sexually explicit animation, online communities and celebrity fan clubs as part of its campaign, the statement added.