Chen Shaojie, the founder and CEO of DouYu International Holdings, a company backed by Tencent Holdings, has reportedly been held incommunicado by Chinese authorities for several weeks. This comes after online censors allegedly discovered pornographic content on DouYu’s popular video game live-streaming platform. According to a report from Cover News, Chen has disappeared and cannot be reached or located by his colleagues. When someone becomes incommunicado in mainland China, it usually means they have been taken away by authorities for questioning or to assist in an investigation. However, no information about Chen’s disappearance has been provided by Chinese authorities.
DouYu, listed on Nasdaq, stated in an email to the Post that its operations remain normal but did not comment on Chen’s absence. Chen’s last public appearance was in August for DouYu’s second-quarter results conference call. This situation is reminiscent of the sudden disappearance of Bao Fan, chairman of China Renaissance Holdings, earlier this year. China Renaissance stated that Bao was still cooperating in an unspecified investigation launched by mainland Chinese authorities. Just like in Chen’s case, authorities have not provided further details about Bao’s situation.
Chen’s disappearance comes after the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the country’s internet watchdog, conducted an on-site inspection of DouYu’s local arm in central Hubei province to address “serious” problems related to the platform, including pornography and vulgar content. However, the results of the inspection and any subsequent action have not been released by the CAC. Publishing pornography online is considered a criminal offense in mainland China.
DouYu, launched in 2016, offers a platform for immersive and interactive games, including Tencent’s Honour of Kings, as well as entertainment live streaming and a variety of video and graphic content. It raised $775 million from its IPO in New York in July 2019. However, China’s antitrust regulator blocked the $5.3 billion merger between DouYu and Huya live-streaming platforms, both backed by Tencent, in July 2021, amid Beijing’s regulatory crackdown on the internet sector.
The shares of DouYu closed at $0.94 on November 3. In October, the company received a notification from Nasdaq’s Listing Qualifications Department stating that its closing bid price had been below the minimum bid price of $1 for the past 30 consecutive business days.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP). For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
