BEIJING – Chinese children were less at risk of seeing violent or sexual fake cartoons featuring their favorite characters on Friday after 279,000 clips were deleted from the internet in a campaign by the government, state-owned news agency Xinhua reported.

As a part of the drive announced in January, 1,079 online accounts were also closed, according to the Ministry of Culture.

The videos targeted in the campaign allegedly showed children’s characters, often those from Disney or other popular ones such as Peppa Pig, in violent or pornographic scenarios, which are popular as “fan fiction” on internet video platforms.

The Chinese authorities have also told major Chinese internet firms such as Baidu, Tencent and Youku to review content on their platforms and delete any such videos immediately.