BEIJING: China cracks down on celebrity online culture

BEIJING: Sina Weibo – China’s Twitter
equivalent – is to remove an online celebrity list following criticism by state
media of celebrity culture on social media.

State-owned
newspaper People’s Daily criticised platforms that make stars out of
“unworthy individuals”.

It did
not specify any companies but the article comes during a wider crackdown on
online firms in China.

Weibo
said its decision was due to what it described as “irrational
support” some fans were showing for celebrities.

Earlier
this week Economic Information Daily, also run by the state, hit out at games
firms, saying that many teenagers had become addicted to online gaming.

Shares in
Tencent and NetEast fell by more than 10%. in the wake of the criticism.

The
article in the People’s Daily argued that teenagers were hugely influenced by
social media and often chose the celebrities they followed based on their
popularity on online platforms.

Weibo’s
list ranked stars on the popularity of their social-media posts and the number
of follows they received.

Other
platforms that allow fans to interact with celebrities include Bilibili,
Kuashou and ByteDance-owned Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.

One of
China’s biggest celebrities, pop star Kris Wu, was arrested at the weekend on
suspicion of rape, accused of deceiving young women into having sex.

He denies
all the allegations.