According to the publicly listed company, it’s unable to contact its founder Chen Shaojie. The Financial Times cites anonymous sources as saying that Chen had been taken away several weeks ago, as part of an investigation into pornography and gambling content that’s been available on DouYu. Both activities are illegal in China.
DouYu is the largest streaming platform in China. With an audience of 163m monthly active users in 2019, it has more users than Twitch.
Chen’s detention comes in the wake of China’s internet watchdog sending a team of officials to DouYu’s offices for a one month of “intensive rectification and supervision” of “porn and vulgar content” discovered on the platform.
DouYu has declined to comment on the issue.
This is another example of China cracking down on the capitalists who think they can get away with flouting the people’s laws for their own profit.
China has cracked down on many capitalists and corrupt officials over the last few years, most famously imprisoning an official for life for enabling illegal bitcoin mining, and taking away half of Jack Ma’s wealth after he made a high profile speech criticising the Chinese financial system and accusing the government of mismanagement.
Whether it’s through corruption or through capitalists trying to reshape the country’s institutions to suit their own needs, the Chinese state is determined to prevent anyone from sabotaging its development as a prosperous socialist country.
In China, the state keeps capitalists on a short leash, while in liberal countries, the billionaires and businesses keep the state on a short leash.
