Chinese media regulators are studying measures to curb the addiction among youths to short videos, a format popularized by tech giants from ByteDance Ltd. to Tencent Holdings Ltd.
The National Radio and Television Administration held a meeting on February 22 to discuss ways to tighten oversight of the short video industry. The powerful agency called for a healthy development and improvement in content quality, without naming or elaborating companies. The key was to prevent minors from spending too much time on them, it said in a brief statement.
It is not known whether regulators will move ahead with concrete measures, but Beijing prioritized measures in past years to wean China s youth off excessive gaming and other pursuits it considers harmful or undesirable. In 2021, the government reduced gaming time for children to just three hours a week, a landmark regulation that hammered the bottom lines of companies, including Tencent and NetEase Inc.
Kuaishou Technology dived as much as 4.2% in early Tuesday trading in Hong Kong, while Bilibili Inc. fell to a maximum of 3.7%. Tencent, which gets most of its revenue from gaming, climbed more than 2.4% at its peak.
Short videos — the bite-sized segments of a few seconds that characterize services such as TikTok and its Chinese cousin Douyin — have exploded in popularity globally in recent years, particularly among teens. Their proliferation made ByteDance the world's most valuable startup, spurred incumbent giants such as Meta Platforms Inc. and Tencent to adopt the format, and created an entire economy of influencers, advertisers and merchants.
The Chinese State Administration of Radio, Film and Television has concerns about minors becoming addicted to short videos, which could lead to new regulations that restrict viewing time, potentially impacting earnings at the likes of Kuaishou and, to a lesser extent, Bilibili and Tencent. Unlisted ByteDance, the owner of Douyin and TikTok, could also suffer from the move.
Since 2020, Beijing clamped down on other industries that gained widespread followings and amassed valuable personal data, including e-commerce, ride-hailing and online education. The government has tried to curb the rising power of China's internet titans, but in recent months Xi Jinping s administration sent strong signals that they were loosening the reins, in part because of the over-riding objective of reviving the world's No. Read more: Tencent Wins Nod for Blockbusters as China Crackdown Softens
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