Cyberattack floods Chinese video platform with explicit content

Episode raises concerns about effectiveness of Kuaishou's youth-protection safeguards

- Michelle Ng China Correspondent

The company said the incident was a cyberattack, but the sudden spread of such content on a platform with a large user base of young people raised fresh questions about the effectiveness of Kuaishou's youth-protection safeguards.

Many users reported being suddenly exposed to a flood of disturbing, violent and pornographic live-streaming content, which netizens described online as "unprecedented" and "wildly inappropriate".

Kuaishou, which had up to 408 million average daily active users in the first quarter of 2025, is a major rival to Douyin, China's version of TikTok.

While some accounts were swiftly banned as the platform's backend review systems kicked in, the illegal content continued to surge through newly created accounts, Chinese media reports cited users as saying. Some live-stream rooms reportedly attracted tens of thousands of viewers.