Photo: VCG

Beijing has taken action to remove disturbing online video animations targeting youth, which come from overseas and feature cartoon characters in violent and terrifying contexts, according to local authorities.

The disturbing videos removed during the crackdown campaign are mainly divided into two categories, reported the Guangming Online on Monday. The first is the "Cartoon Cat" series, a cartoon image created by a Canadian illustrator. The video content is mostly feline characters engaged in terrorist and violent incidents. The second category is the "Secure, Contain, Protect" series, in which abnormal creatures or mutants conceived and created by foreign netizens are made into animated videos featuring horror and terrifying contents.

During the campaign starting in March, the authority has inspected 27 online platforms and imposed sanctions on seven of them for violating regulations. Fines of 110,000 yuan ($16,967) have been imposed and 33,789 related disturbing videos, 7,930 pictures, and 83,254 links about the disturbing animations had been removed from the web.

This is not the first time disturbing animations have been found on internet platforms in China. 

At the beginning of 2018, disturbing videos targeting children appeared on Chinese social platforms. Cartoon characters like Spiderman, Elsa in Frozen and Peppa Pig were reprocessed and made into other animations and games which featured vulgar and pornographic elements.

After that, a wave of investigation and removal of similar videos has been carried out. Internet companies have been asked to examine and delete online videos featuring popular children's characters in sexual, violent, and terrorist contexts.

Beijing authorities vowed to continue the efforts to protect minors in the online cultural market and use high-tech devices to manage and monitor online contents in the future.