(Yicai) Nov. 16 -- ByteDance’s Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, has recently removed 119 micro-short plays from its platform for rule violations.

Nearly 1,190 accounts were also penalized for having promoted such 119 micro-short plays, Beijing-based Douyin announced today.

Micro-short plays are series of 80 to 100 episodes, each one to two minutes long. They are usually very dramatic and feature many plot twists and powerful climaxes to attract users. The micro-short play industry has boomed this year, achieving a total market value of CNY20 billion to CNY30 billion (USD2.8 billion to USD4 billion), China Securities said in a research note.

Plays on Douyin are not allowed to contain content deemed improper for underage viewers to imitate, the company noted, adding that some of the content that was removed included pornography, as well as vulgar, bloody, and violent content.

Douyin will guide owners of related accounts to rectify illicit content and behavior and punish them if they refuse to make corrections, the firm pointed out. Removing the episodes, deleting or blocking content, and muting or banning accounts are among the punishments.

Douyin has been dealing with illicit micro-short plays and related promotional accounts this year. Since the release of the first announcement last December, the platform has published 19 such statements disclosing the progress on handling illicit micro-short plays.

Editor: Futura Costaglione