IMAGE provider Visual China Group’s shares plunged yesterday after China’s Internet regulator said the firm had committed violations and ordered it to make rectifications.

The stock dropped the 10 percent daily limit to 18.08 yuan (US$2.57) in Shenzhen trading after Visual China said it had temporarily suspended its website services.

The Cyberspace Administration of China said on its website that Visual China and another image provider Imaginechina had engaged in Internet news information services without obtaining the correct licenses, and collaborated with international news services without conducting security assessments.

The Internet regulator did not provide more details on the violations but said that heads of the two websites were called into meetings with authorities from Tianjin, Beijing, Jiangsu and Shanghai, where they were told to stop those activities.

A statement posted on the website of Visual China, China’s largest stock images provider that is sometimes likened to U.S. photo agency Getty Images, said that it had suspended services to carry out “self-rectification” at the request of the authorities.

Imaginechina’s website carried a similar statement. ByteDance, the owner of popular short video apps TikTok and Douyin, invested in Imaginechina in 2016. ByteDance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Visual China also temporarily shut its website in April to make changes after it was criticized online and by regulators for selling images that it did not hold the ownership rights to, such as China’s national emblems including its flag. (SD-Agencies)