Management companies were directed to control fan groups and stem squabbles between rival factions. Platforms were told not to induce fans “to consume” or require people to buy something to vote in talent shows.
The Cyberspace Administration of China banned the ranking of celebrities by popularity on social media and told platforms to control the participation of people younger than 18.
The government issued expansive guidance to control the “chaos” of celebrity culture and fan clubs. In August, Chinese officials said they had had enough. Even more notoriously, a group of fans mused online about ways to spring Kris Wu, a China-based Canadian singer who’s being held on suspicion of rape, from detention. Followers of the site then called for a boycott of Xiao Zhan-endorsed products, and both sides were accused of doxing and cyberbullying the other. Last year, devotees of actor Xiao Zhan provoked authorities to shut a fan fiction site by complaining it was “pornography,” the BBC reported fans were upset that a piece depicted the actor as a cross-dressing teen pining over a male celebrity.
