China to Crack Down on 'Chaotic' Online Fan Culture, Will Shut Down Channels That Spread Celebrity Scandals

China said it will improve the way it regulates the promotion of celebrities online and also ban lists that rank celebrities by popularity.

By Reuters | Updated: 27 August 2021 13:30 IST

China to Crack Down on 'Chaotic' Online Fan Culture, Will Shut Down Channels That Spread Celebrity Scandals

Companies that have so far responded include video streaming platform iQiyi and the Twitter-like Weibo

Highlights

Beijing has in recent months voiced strong criticism of fan culture
Weibo took down a list that ranked celebrities by popularity
iQiyi announced that it would stop showing "idol competition" programmes

China will move to crack down on the "chaotic" online celebrity fan culture, the country's cyberspace regulator said in a notice published on Friday, part of an ongoing state campaign to "rectify" the Internet sector.

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said it would take action against the dissemination of "harmful information" in celebrity fan groups and close down discussion channels that spread celebrity scandals or "provoke trouble".

Beijing has in recent months voiced strong criticism of fan culture after a number of celebrities including Canadian-Chinese pop star Kris Wu and Chinese actor Zhang Zhehan were caught up in scandals and has asked its Internet companies to exercise social responsibility.

[Sponsored] Samsung Galaxy S24: The Ultimate Camera Phone With Smarter On-Device AI

Companies that have so far responded include video streaming platform iQiyi and the Twitter-like Weibo which have announced changes to their offerings.

The CAC said it will improve the way it regulates the promotion of celebrities online and also ban lists that rank celebrities by popularity, the notice said.

It will also take action against the financial exploitation of netizens through the sale of merchandise or by charging fans to vote for their favourite acts in online variety shows. It also aims to restrict access to online fan groups for minors.

New Personal Data Privacy Law Passed in China to Protect Online Users

Earlier this month, Weibo took down a list that ranked celebrities by popularity after state media said social media platforms ought to rein in the promotion of celebrity culture to protect children.

On Thursday, Chinese video-streaming platform iQiyi announced that it would stop showing "idol competition" programmes.

The company, China's equivalent of Netflix, dropped the third season of its popular talent show "Youth with You" before its finale earlier this year after a controversy in which fans of the show were filmed wasting milk in their bid to qualify to vote.

© Thomson Reuters 2021

Are the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 still made for enthusiasts — or are they good enough for everyone? We discussed this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.