(ECNS) -- Guangdong authorities have closed two offices of a company involved in making and spreading videos of children featuring inappropriate content disguised as popular cartoons known as Elsagate content.
The leading national office in charge of the fight against pornographic and illegal publications said on its official Weibo account that Guangzhou Yinjun Trade Co., Lt. was investigated and required to withdraw the online videos.
The company was found to engage in online cultural business without a license making content that violated laws and regulations. Equipment used to produce the content was also confiscated while investigations continue, according to the office.
An article on Sina Weibo drew attention to Elsagate, a trend in which seemingly innocent animations and reality videos actually involve bloody, pornographic or violent content uploaded online.
While there have been crackdowns on Elsagate videos abroad, similar videos can still be found across Chinese video platforms including Tencent, Youku and Iqiyi. Tencent stated they would delete the videos, and have set up a specific team to monitor its video platform round-the-clock.
