China Bans Fanwars and Paid Voting to Support Idols, in Favor of a Toxic-Free Internet Environment

Kapanlagi.com - Idols need fans. But there are times when fans also damage the image of their idols if they are involved in fanwars or are too toxic. The Chinese government seems to understand this and has started to restrict the movements of fanatic fans on social media.

What are the things banned in China? Here are some regulations given to all fanatic fans of celebrities.

1. Massive Yogurt Purchase Case for Voting

Starting last May, a viral video in China emerged regarding the massive purchase of Zhenguoli yogurt, which is one of the products from the dairy company Mengniu. Mengniu itself is a brand that sponsors the show YOUTH WITH YOU 3, a popular boyband formation competition in China. One of the requirements to give a lot of votes is by scanning the barcode on the Zhenguoli packaging. Therefore, fans bought a large quantity of the yogurt product just to take out the packaging and discard the contents into the drain. This viral video prompted iQiyi, the producer of YOUTH WITH YOU 3, to be asked to stop airing the show, even though only the final round was left.

2. Fan Wars between Zhao Liying and Wang Yibo Fans

A few days ago, a massive fan war broke out between fans of actress Zhao Liying and actor Wang Yibo. The cause was a rumor that they would reunite in a new drama. Some of Zhao Liying's fans were unhappy about the idea of their idol working with Wang Yibo again and started campaigns to boycott and initiate wars among fans on Weibo.

After the incident, several Zhao Liying fansites were muted by Weibo. Zhao Liying's studio Weibo account was also muted for 15 days for being deemed unable to control the fans.

3. Celebrities Agree with Qinglang Campaign

From these two incidents, the Cyberspace Administration of China highlights the phenomenon of toxic fandom culture. They plan to create a better internet environment by launching a campaign to clean the internet from toxic fans, known as the Qinglang campaign.

Wang Yibo and Zhao Liying's agencies also support the Qinglang campaign and urge their fans to communicate in a friendly manner and not engage in online bullying. This campaign has received support from other top Chinese celebrities such as Xiao Zhan, an artist from Jaywalk Studio, and others who have even signed statements to show their approval.

4. iQiyi Will Not Produce Survival Shows Anymore

On August 26, 2021, iQiyi and other streaming platforms announced that they will no longer produce idol survival shows in the coming years. They also promised not to hold offline voting events, such as the yogurt packaging scanning incident that occurred before.

5. Criteria for Fan Regulations

On August 27, 2021, the Cyberspace Administration of China issued regulations for fans. Here are the criteria for these regulations:

• Cancelling all rankings for celebrities
• Maximizing and modifying ranking regulations for music, dramas, and films. Likes, comments, and engagement will have reduced importance and will be more focused on professional reviews
• Implementing stricter control over celebrity agencies.
• Establishing standards for fanbase or fansite accounts. Fanbase teams must obtain approval from the agency. The agency is also responsible for monitoring these accounts.
• Fanwars are strictly prohibited.
• Cleaning up forums that violate rules, such as making donations to support idols, spreading gossip, and others.
• Prohibited from making calls to purchase idol-related merchandise. The quantity of album sales, merchandise, or others should not be shown. Other activities such as missions that require fans to spend money are also prohibited.
• Tight supervision of underage fans.
• Will provide regulations for support projects and fundraising for idols.

6. Weibo and Commercial Data Websites Move Fast

After new regulations were introduced, Weibo announced the removal of charts for celebrities and ships (favorite pairings) from their Super Topics. Commercial data websites such as VLinkage, Xunyi, Powerstar, and Datawin also announced that they would stop creating celebrity ranking lists.

7. New Rules for Digital Music Purchases

On August 28th, QQ Music and Netease Music platforms implemented new rules stating that each user can only purchase digital copies once. Repurchasing is now prohibited.

8. New Fan Rules Explained by CCTV News

On August 28, CCTV News explained in more detail about the new rules for a better life in the online world.

• Minors are prohibited from participating in fan projects that require spending money. They are also prohibited from becoming leaders in fan groups.
• Rankings for celebrities will be abolished. Rankings for music, drama, or movies are still allowed, but individual names cannot be mentioned.
• Online variety shows are not allowed to ask viewers to spend money. Streaming platforms are also prohibited from making calls for viewers to buy or become VIP members in order to vote for their idols.
• Fan wars are prohibited. Platforms where fan wars occur may face severe punishment if they cannot control accounts that launch attacks or initiate fan wars.
• Rankings for drama or music are not allowed to ask fans to vote. Everything should focus on the quality of the idols' work.
• Groups that encourage fans to like or comment (to make comments top comments) must be deleted. The same goes for groups that conduct fundraising. This also applies to those who spread gossip or disseminate data.
• The number of albums or products related to idols should not be shown in sales.
Individual purchases should not show their quantity.
• Artists, agencies, fan clubs that start fan wars, their accounts will be suspended, restricted, or even closed.

9.

What do KLovers think about this? Do you agree that fans can be toxic sometimes? Do you think these rules would be effective if implemented in Indonesia?

(kpl/pit)