China's devoted fan clubs, often responsible for the growing prestige and celebrity of entertainers in the country, as well as a hotbed of political opinion, are facing a crackdown. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the nation's internet watchdog, announced on 15 June that a special campaign will be launched to tackle the 'chaos' brought on by online fan clubs. Citing increasing social media wars, improper fundraising, illegally pushing the rankings of their 'idols', and spreading rumours, all of which have negatively impacted minors, CAC now wants to control the often overzealous fan culture in the country.
“For a period of time, members of the fan circles have hurled verbal abuses at each other, boosted the ranking of their idols on various charts, and spread rumors, which have undermined the clear cyber environment and caused negative impact to the mental and physical health of minors,” said the announcement.
The power of superfan groups
Often inspired by a similar frenzied fan culture prevalent in Japan and South Korea, Chinese superfan groups regularly make news for their unflinching support for their idol. In a recent example, admirers of a boyband singer in China booked screens in Times Square apart from running ads in cities from Beijing to Reykjavik to celebrate his birthday. The funds for the operation in question were crowdsourced on a virtual platform. Media experts have tried to explain such behaviour. "They're almost looking as their idol as an investment. They want to make sure he is bigger and can go even further and become even more massive and influential," Ruey Ku, Content General Manager at Publicis Media told Rapport. While fan clubs generally might not be able to generate a large enough sum to support their stars, Chinese groups have the numbers. And often, one member from the group will donate a large chunk of money to make sure the goal is met. For the fans, their behaviour, which might even blur the line between obsession and reverence, is just a way to make their idol "happy".
The real money behind the fan economy
Beyond the surface, which looks to be occupied by starstruck teens, lies a whole industry — often referred to as the "fan economy". Apart from bringing in millions of dollars in revenue, the fan economy operates as a standalone business, complete with various departments such as frontline, core management, copywriting, and data among others. A member of the frontline vertical is expected to catch their idols in candid moments, whether at an airport or a mall. The different departments work in tandem to make the star seem more appealing and influential, in pictures or otherwise, reports RADII.
Even the emergence of a new band in the entertainment industry is far from a fluke. Consider the power of Nine Percent, the now-disbanded popular nine-member Chinese boy group. Formed on the heavily-followed competition show Idol Producer on iQIYI, the band's celebrity helped bring in 20 million RMB in revenue for the show. These numbers serve as an indication of the influence of the fan economy in making or breaking stars in China. The CAC's effort to minimise fan participation and engagement online could potentially change the way entertainment is perceived and consumed in the country, and followers have already begun to get a taste of that.
Bans and brushes with the law
Just last month, Weibo, the Chinese microblogging website, had announced that it was suspending 10 fan club accounts for a period of 30 days for illegitimate fundraising and encouraging cyberbullying. At least of seven of those accounts were created by followers of Korean sensation BTS, according to a report by the Global Times. The most popular account had a follower count of 1.2 million users at the time of the ban.
In the same month, Chinese television authorities cancelled the finale of iQiyi's reality contest show, Youth With You 3 after a video purportedly showed frenzied fans throwing away vast quantities of yoghurt. The QR code printed on the caps of the yoghurt containers were to be scanned in order to be counted as a vote for contestants on the reality show, sparking the wastage.
Fan groups' dark side
A little different to that story is the downfall of Xiao Zhan, the actor and boy band idol, star of the show The Untamed. After a homoerotic piece of fanfiction involving Zhan and his co-star Wang Yibo was uploaded on two popular websites, fans rallied to get the content pulled down. The authorities complied and shut down both the websites, angering millions of users who not only boycotted Zhan, but also brands associated with him. Unlike other idols, Zhan's 'clean' public image, that he had reportedly cultivated after much effort, suffered a major setback.
Fan participation would often precede the boundaries of entertainment, crossing over into political territory. It has often been reported that Beijing leans on fan circles to promote nationalist propaganda. The 'fangirls', for instance, was a dedicated army of young fans patrolling social media sites at the time of the Hong Kong protests, and aggressively defended their motherland in 2019. The group had even received the party's endorsement as the hashtag #TheFanGirls'Crusade took over timelines in China.
What the CAC campaign hopes to achieve
The CAC's crusade will reportedly tackle five important issues observed within fan culture. These include reining in excessive spending on boosting idol ratings, placing bots or fan 'armies' to influence the discourse on stars, accounts of superfans who encourage monetary contributions in support of their idol. Rumourmongering and leaking private information will also be severely punished according to the regulator, which hopes to pave the way for 'healthy' fan circles in unison with talent management agencies and social media platforms. Corrective action won't just be limited to individuals, but also social platforms who host any such activities. Action here could mean shutting down of services offered, which is often the case in China.
source https://www.firstpost.com/art-and-culture/with-chinese-cyberspace-authoritys-crackdown-on-fan-clubs-understanding-the-power-of-fan-economy-9722091.html
