China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) has pulled several popular Web dramas from their sites earlier this week for a variety of reasons, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Most of the shows are adaptations from popular Chinese novels.
Sources close to video sites like letv.com and iqiyi.com said that the dramas were taken down for content that was too vulgar, bloody or superstitious.
On Thursday, le.com said in a statement that one of the dramas was taken down after a request by the "relevant department." It said it would resume streaming the show after "optimizing" part of the show's content.
The SAPPRFT did not release an immediate response.
One of the dramas is the favorite "Go Princess Go." It tells the story of a modern Chinese playboy who accidentally travels back in time and becomes a princess.
The show has been viewed over 2.4 billion times on le.com as of last week. It has become a hot topic on social media due to its extraordinary plot and its inclusion of sexual scenes and language that are uncommon in traditional Chinese television.
"The Lost Tomb," another of the pulled shows, is an adaptation of a fantasy novel that follows a group of tomb raiders. It has been streamed on iqiyi.com.
The online drama was much anticipated due to the sizable fan base of the novel it is based on, as well as Li Yifeng, the relatively new actor that plays the show's lead.
As tomb raiding is illegal in China, the script of the drama has been significantly changed from the original novel in an effort to please Chinese censors. For instance, the lead treasure hunters in the show submit their raided treasures to the government.
According to iqiyi.com, the drama cost 5 million yuan ($760,000) per episode to produce, a record for Chinese online dramas.
Netizens have decried the move, which has trended on Chinese social media.
One user on Sina Weibo wrote, "Why do Chinese people like to watch pirated content? Because the legal versions are always banned."