At the beginning of August, Chinese companies in the video game sector fell on the stock market after official media described online games as "spiritual opium" and "electronic drugs," despite which they remain an extremely popular form of leisure among the population. The Economic Information Daily newspaper then published an article – later deleted and later republished without the most aggressive commentary – in which it said "no industry should develop by destroying a generation," causing stock market falls in companies such as Tencent or Netease.EFE aa/lds