In a bid to restrict any kind of ‘activism’, China under ‘morality crackdown’ has banned irrational star chasing, online celebrity rankings, fundraising and other tools used by China’s fandoms to get their idols trending on social media.
The decision has been justified claiming that the fan culture has become an exploitative industry aimed at profiting from minors, built on artificially inflated social media engagement. The authorities also suggested that these new rules were needed to curb alleged excessive aspects of fan culture which include cyberbullying, stalking, doxxing and aggressive online wars between fandoms.
In another crackdown, China’s broadcast regulator last month banned performers with ‘lapsed morals’ and ‘incorrect political views’. In a vague description, they also imposed a ban on ‘sissy men’, an androgynous aesthetic popularised by Korean boybands, and imitated by male Chinese idols like Xiao.
What is star chasing?
The youth in China spend hours on social media platforms like Weibo to trend their favourite stars and celebrities. Beijing high schooler Chen Zhichu spent 30 minutes a day boosting actor Xiao Zhan online before the government declared it a ‘foul practice.’
A 16-year-old die-hard fan of Xiao who gained a massive female fan-following for his role in the 2019 fantasy drama The Untamed said, “I used to upvote posts in his Weibo fan forum and buy products he promoted. It was pretty exhausting trying to keep him trending at number one every day.”
Interestingly, China’s lucrative ‘idol economy’ powered by fans is said to be worth 140 billion yuan ($21.6 billion) by 2022.
Communist authorities worried about ‘fan armies’
A social studies professor at a Chinese university on the condition of anonymity claimed, “It’s the beginnings of a mass movement and that is what the government doesn’t want”.
Reportedly, the ability of idols to mobilize fan armies at a moment’s notice, often dominating social media for days, has got the communist authorities worried. Fang Kecheng, a communications professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong said that Chinese youth lack any other type of idol other than entertainment.
“It’s very hard for them to have other means of civic participation (such as activism),” said Kecheng.
The fans informed that seeing their idols flourish gave them a sense of pleasure. Moreover, they found a sense of community from the shared online space. For now, Chinese superfans have been forced to keep a low profile both on and offline.
China wants cartoonists to produce ‘healthy’ content
In an effort to ‘revamp’ its entertainment industry, China in the latter half of September encouraged producers to create more “healthy” cartoons and bring an end to “violent, vulgar or pornographic” content.
As per the National Radio and Television Administration, the government in a notice said that children and young people were the main audiences for cartoons. It urged the qualified agencies to broadcast content that ‘upholds truth, goodness and beauty’.
Weibo suspends 22 K-pop fan accounts
Extending its cleaning drive, China last month suspended 22 fan accounts for ‘irrational star-chasing behaviour’.
This included the accounts of fans who initiated a crowdfunding campaign on the platform to customize an aeroplane for K-pop singer Park Ji-Min’s 26th birthday. Weibo accused one fan account of “illegal fundraising” for the stunt. The accounts have been suspended for a period of 30 to 60 days.
The social networking platform, in a statement, had made it clear that it “firmly opposes such irrational star-chasing behaviour and will deal with it seriously”.
China’s crackdown on ed-tech companies
Not just entertainment, but the communist party of China has aimed to regulate private capital in the private tuition sector as well. Concerned about unhealthy competition, the Chinese government in one sweeping move, banned after-school tuition/coaching companies from earning profits, raising capital or going public.
The directive mandated that all ed-tech companies will re-register as ‘non-profit organizations’, local authorities will not allow any new ed-tech company, and existing companies will be subject to examination. Any online courses for 3 to 6-year-old children have been banned. No ed-tech company can teach school subjects on holidays or weekends.
