A consumer protection organization in China's Zhejiang Province summoned five online platforms over live streaming irregularities during the Singles' Day shopping festival, Reuters reports.
- The platforms include Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's (NYSE:BABA) Taobao, Pinduoduo Inc (NASDAQ:PDD), and JD.com Inc (NASDAQ:JD).
- The organization also summoned short video-sharing and live streaming platforms Kuaishou and ByteDance's Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.
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- The organization alleged irregularities with nearly 30% of live streamers during Singles' Day, while almost 40% of the products sold during the live streams failed to meet national standards.
- Additionally, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) informed via video conferencing that it would launch a two-month special operation to target deceptive online behaviors, from boosting engagement figures to paying for fake fans and reviews.
- "The conference noted that at present, fabricating online traffic, malicious public relations and comments-for-cash ... harm the legitimate rights and interests of netizens," said the statement, adding that this was the "final battle" in the CAC's drive "clean up" the internet.
- Price Action: BABA shares traded higher by 1.12% at $119.25, PDD shares traded lower by 0.54% at $58.13, JD shares traded lower by 6.58% at $68.89 in the market session on the last check Thursday.
