Photo: VCG

China's cyberspace regulator responded to the blacklisting of US video game distribution platform Steam in the Chinese mainland. On Tuesday, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) told  Chinese online media outlet lanjinger.com that the blacklisting of Steam was caused by illicit activities.

An official from the MIIT also mentioned that they do not know the exact reason why  Steam was banned "but  illicit acts must have happened that caused the blacklisting," said the official to the media. 

A user of Chinese Twitter-liked social media Sina Weibo under the name "wormzjl" posted on December 26 that Steam had been banned in the Chinese mainland and shared a screenshot of the domain availability website under the MIIT showing that platform's domain, steampowered.com, had been blacklisted.

The Global Times tried to reach Steam on Tuesday but did not receive a reply. Steam's main page can be accessed now and the post by "wormzjl" is no longer available. 

A veteran user of Steam in Beijing surnamed Shao told the Global Times on Tuesday that this has happened occasionally and most of time is caused by network failure. 

"But I hope it can be accessed normally most of time because I have spent a lot of money on it," said Shao.

Global Times