Thousands of illegal apps taken offline in S China

GUANGZHOU - Internet supervisors in South China's Guangdong province said Monday that more than 5,500 illegal apps had been taken offline.

More than 1,600 mobile video apps disseminating pornographic and violent content were closed, according to the Guangdong provincial cyberspace administration.

Over 1,200 social apps had pornographic content. Other apps were found to hack users' private information, infringe upon others' right and maliciously incur fees.

The administration said the illegal apps had been available on app stores operated by Tencent, China Mobile and other smartphone producers such as Huawei, ZTE, Coolpad, Meizu, OPPO and VIVO.

The apps violated cyber laws and regulations in China, the administration said. It promised to step up supervision and enforcement of laws and maintain a healthy online environment.