Beijing, Jul 17 (IANS): China's anti-pornography office closed 73 illegal live streaming platforms in the first half of 2017 and imposed life bans on 1,879 live streamers who severely violated regulations.

From January to June, more than 120,000 accounts were cleared and 38,179 accounts that violated regulations were blocked, the National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications said on Monday.

Local anti-pornography offices have also helped police investigate more than 10 cases of live streaming platforms with pornographic content, including one platform named Laohuzhibo, or "Tiger", in Zhejiang province.

The platform launched overseas operations in March and recruited female live streaming presenters.

As of May 3, the platform had received 7 million yuan ($1 million) from subscribers and had more than 1,000 female presenters streaming pornography.

Two principal suspects were arrested and 22 people have been placed in detention.