Chinese internet moderators have shut down 2,899 illegal websites and over 200,000 user accounts during the second quarter of 2019. The dating app Soul was hit in June.
The censored websites were accused of printing news without approval, distributing pornography, and facilitating gambling services. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) published a report earlier this week documenting all of the closed items.
Most of the accounts were banned for committing financial fraud and other forms of internet fraud.
636 other website managers were also warned about their practices, while 56 companies were ordered to suspend some of their planned updates.
Dating app Tantan was removed from Android stores earlier this year for unconfirmed policy violations, widely believed to be for hosting adverts for prostitution services.
Owners Momo promised to cooperate fully with the authorities during the takedown period and conducted a full review of its screening process for user-generated content.
Tantan was reinstated after approximately ten weeks and subsequently began to quickly climb the iOS top grossing rankings. It peaked at third position, having previously struggled to consistently make it into the top 25.
The CAC shut down 65 online dating services in 2015, stating that they were a “public nuisance” because of the extensive number of fake profiles that were being created.
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