Live streaming sites ought to be regulated by law

A screenshot of Baomihua.com, Nov 1, 2014. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Many Chinese streaming sites reportedly broadcast sexual, violent and vulgar content. Some of the sites not only frequently stream scenes of sex, drug taking and other crimes, they also feature vulgar and obscene language. The operators of such sites are responsible for the content, Rednet.cn commented on Monday:

Live streaming sites are on a roll. For instance, douyutv.com, one of China's largest online platforms for real-time games, just secured another round of venture capital investment worth $100 million. Reports estimate the number of users of live streaming sites will reach over 100 million this year, and the value of the whole market will expand to 5 billion yuan ( $800 million).

No doubt the live-streaming industry is among the most profitable of businesses at the moment, even though many such sites have been embroiled in scandals, such as the live streaming of nudity, sex and car racing. One "host" of a live show even sexually harassed his female fans in a university and streamed it live.

Such vulgar behavior results from the eyeball economy of the live-streaming websites. The clicks and likes of viewers embody revenue of thousands of millions yuan for these websites and drive them to draw as much attention as possible, regardless of the transgressions involved.

But it is not right to throw the baby out with the bath water. Problematic as they are, the live-streaming websites are a significant part of the Internet economy. They need regulatory guidance for their future development.