Foreigners have actually been barred from Chinese livestreaming platforms since Jan 2017, when the central government mandated that they would henceforth be required to register with authorities.
#Thread based on a story @SixthTone did at the time that could not be published: 1/
#Thread based on a story @SixthTone did at the time that could not be published: 1/
Why? A notice from the Ministry of Culture had said that all online broadcasts should “be beneficial to the promotion of socialist core values” … 3/ 
… and that streaming platforms should not allow foreign hosts to *open channels* without first applying through the ministry.
While the link to the guideline no longer works, an archived version can be found here: 4/ web.archive.org/web/2017022317…
While the link to the guideline no longer works, an archived version can be found here: 4/ web.archive.org/web/2017022317…
An employee with one of China’s largest livestreaming platforms told @janieyyj1 on condition of anonymity that the problem with the new regulation was that no details had been given about how a foreigner could “apply” to stream. 5/
Anton, a Ukrainian living in Chongqing, had been streaming on #Blued for 6 months when “the app sent me a message saying I had broken some rules, but I was just broadcasting, talking about some boring stuff as usual. Then, staff told me there was a new national regulation.” 6/
Zou Shenglong from #Blued’s public relations department told @janieyyj1 that the issue stemmed from the new regulation: “Many rules haven’t been elaborated on. We as a platform are waiting for details to come out.” 7/
Another expat streamer, a 28-year-old Egyptian named Mohamed, said #Yizhibo had asked him to verify his identity — but would only accept a Chinese national ID number and not a passport number. 8/
Gao Zhurong, a public relations employee for Yizhibo’s parent company, told @janieyyj1 that the real-name verification system required by the new regulation only supports mainland Chinese IDs — essentially shutting out foreigners. 9/
“We have asked the relevant monitoring departments how to provide broadcasting services for foreigners but haven’t yet received detailed procedures,” Gao said.
Reminder that this was in *Feb 2017* — and nothing seems to have changed. 10/end
Reminder that this was in *Feb 2017* — and nothing seems to have changed. 10/end
