Sci-fi thriller Guardian—or Zhenhun in Chinese—was taken down from Youku, a Chinese video hosting service in early August, less than two months after the show's debut in mid-June.

According to a report in the South China Morning Post, the show is the latest to be targeted by censors since a July order was issued by authorities to "clean up TV programmes of harmful and vulgar content."

A spokesperson for Youku told the South China Morning Post that the show was undergoing "content adjustments" but did not explain what this meant.

Guardian's 40 episodes had been viewed nearly 2 billion times before the show was taken offline.

The show is based on a book, published online by an author using the pen name Priest. The novel features two male characters who defend the world from evil using their superpowers, and are also in a relationship. The TV series played down this angle to avoid being purged by censors, and, in an effort to protect the series, fans avoided mention online of the same-sex relationship between the protagonists in the original book.