China has intensified its crackdown on harmful online content, targeting platforms owned by two of the country’s biggest tech giants—ByteDance and Alibaba. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) announced Tuesday that it had summoned ByteDance’s news aggregator app, Jinri Toutiao, issuing a warning and ordering rectifications within a set deadline.
Officials accused the platform of allowing harmful material to appear in its trending search section, which they said damaged the online ecosystem.
Although regulators did not provide details about the specific content or the severity of the penalties, the move reflects Beijing’s growing scrutiny of tech companies’ responsibility to manage digital spaces.
In a separate statement, the CAC also cited Alibaba’s UCWeb for violations, accusing it of displaying “extremely sensitive and malicious” entries related to online violence and breaches of minors’ privacy. The regulator said UCWeb would face similar measures, including warnings and required corrective action.
The enforcement actions form part of a broader two-month clean-up campaign launched by the CAC this week. The initiative is aimed at curbing harmful narratives such as “malicious incitement of conflict” and “negative outlooks on life such as world-weariness.”
Authorities highlighted concerns about content that exploits social controversies, stigmatizes identity, region, or gender, and promotes violence or harmful trends.
This is not the first time the watchdog has moved against major platforms. Earlier in the month, the CAC penalized Weibo, Kuaishou, and Xiaohongshu for similar lapses in content management, though details of the punishments were not made public.
China’s sweeping campaign underscores Beijing’s determination to tighten control over online discourse, reinforcing the message that tech giants are expected to align with state content standards—or face swift regulatory action.
