An investigation by China Central Television (CCTV) has found popular Chinese news app Toutiao to be a hideout for pornographic livestreams, as law-enforcement authorities target this fast-growing but under-regulated media. 

Toutiao boasts at least 700 million users in China, with more than 74 million active daily users. The news app uses artificial intelligence to curate headline recommendations. So far, so innocent.

All pornography is illegal in China, but authorities are playing catch-up in regulating live streaming.

Since at least the latter part of 2016, it has been automatically pushing embedded content from the Huoshan Live Streaming app to its users, and much of it is pornographic, according to a CCTV exposé aired on Sunday.

The nation’s live streaming sector boomed in 2016. More than 200 live streaming platforms are actively involved in the budding sector, which Credit Suisse estimated to be worth more than 25 billion yuan, attracting 325 million users, according to Chinese media reports.

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