Beijing, 20 September 2025 — China’s internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), announced disciplinary measures against popular social media platforms Weibo and Kuaishou for failing to rein in content it deems frivolous, including excessive celebrity gossip and trivial posts. The actions mark the latest in a sweeping regulatory tightening on Chinese tech platforms’ content moderation.
According to the CAC, both platforms are being reprimanded for recurrent content oversight failures, particularly around trending lists which frequently highlight celebrity-centric topics and flippant personal updates. The regulator says such content, when amplified by their platforms, is damaging to China’s online ecosystem.
Measures announced include summonses of platform executives, formal warnings, and orders to correct violations within a defined timeframe. While details of penalties have not been fully disclosed, platform notices indicate that each has accepted the criticism seriously and is establishing special task forces to implement the required changes.
This move follows a similar clampdown on Xiaohongshu (also known as Rednote) last week, which faced sanctions for comparable content moderation issues. The CAC is intensifying its oversight of social media services to ensure that content aligns with standards for social responsibility, ideological alignment, and public interest.
Weibo, a microblogging site with hundreds of millions of monthly users, and Kuaishou, a short-video and live-streaming platform, both play major roles in China’s digital public square. Their heavy reliance on trending content to drive engagement makes them especially vulnerable under the CAC’s sharpened regulatory lens.
