China intensifies crackdown on celebrity culture and fans

Beijing [China], November 24 (ANI): China is set to increase its crackdown on celebrity culture over the internet by ensuring information related to them complies with strict moral and cultural standards, local media reported on Tuesday.
The Chinese Cyberspace Administration on Tuesday said the internet remains filled with “unhealthy aesthetics,” vulgarity, and low culture, including scandalous gossip about the personal lives of celebrities.
In order to deal with this situation, China’s top internet regulator said that it will establish a negative list to prevent celebrity-related content from promoting distorted values, including abnormal aesthetics, vulgar scandals, and content that induces fans to blindly idolize celebrities, Global Times reported.
The China Association of Performing Arts published the ninth warning list for livestreaming performances covering 88 celebrities, including Chinese-Canadian pop idol Kris Wu Yifan, the report added.
Apart from this, the government is planning to boost the monitoring of public accounts of celebrities and their fan clubs.
The set of measures adopted in China over the past few months to establish a “healthy” internet and television culture includes a ban on the featuring of “effeminate men and other abnormal aesthetics.”
This comes as Chinese authorities have tightened control of underage internet users. Recently, Chinese internet policy is seen promoting socialist values online and the building of a “civilized internet.”
Last month, China’s video game industry association combining over 200 companies, including industry giants Tencent and NetEase, pledged to follow the government’s policy on the matter, in particular, banning “effeminate men” and other “inappropriate” content in video games. (ANI)