(China, 23rd) – The social short video platform Kuaishou experienced a major cybersecurity incident on the evening of the 22nd, as a large amount of explicit pornographic content infiltrated multiple livestreams within a short period, drawing in a huge number of viewers, with some livestreams attracting over 50,000 participants. Kuaishou responded by stating that the platform was attacked by black and grey industry actors and has reported the incident to the police.
Many users browsing Kuaishou livestreams noticed the anomalies around 10 pm on Monday night. Netizens reported that originally normal livestreams would display varying degrees of pornographic content upon clicking into the recommended livestream page, including the broadcast of obscene videos and borderline vulgar performances by hosts. Some livestream rooms had tens of thousands of viewers. Starting at 11:30 pm that night, Kuaishou began mass deletion of such content, forcibly shutting down livestream channels which then displayed the message “Server busy, please try again later.” Many livestreams were subsequently banned. By 2 am on the 23rd, livestream channels gradually resumed service.
Early Tuesday morning, Kuaishou officially responded urgently, stating that the platform had been attacked by black and grey industry actors the previous night but the issue had been promptly handled and resolved. The platform firmly opposes illegal content. The incident has been reported to the relevant authorities, and a police report has also been filed. A staff member at the Haidian Branch of the Beijing Public Security Bureau confirmed to the Chinese media that multiple citizen reports had been received and that the situation was being investigated. This kind of cybersecurity incident is rare. Analysis suggests that black and grey industry groups may have circumvented real-name verification by using "number-receiving" services, employing automated scripts to register or steal accounts in bulk and launching multiple livestreams simultaneously.
Many users browsing Kuaishou livestreams noticed the anomalies around 10 pm on Monday night. Netizens reported that originally normal livestreams would display varying degrees of pornographic content upon clicking into the recommended livestream page, including the broadcast of obscene videos and borderline vulgar performances by hosts. Some livestream rooms had tens of thousands of viewers. Starting at 11:30 pm that night, Kuaishou began mass deletion of such content, forcibly shutting down livestream channels which then displayed the message “Server busy, please try again later.” Many livestreams were subsequently banned. By 2 am on the 23rd, livestream channels gradually resumed service.