iQiyi issued an announcement on its plans regarding an operation to rectify the recent “chaos” that has erupted within the fandom circle in China. The move is widely recognized as a step to reform fandom environment following the recent scandals that caused the early termination of its variety show, Youth With You 3.
This is directly in response to the meeting on June 15, 2021, where the Central Cyberspace Administration of China decided to carry out a two-month special operation of “Clearing the fandom chaos” across the country. This special action will address prominent issues in the online “fan circle”, focusing on key links such as celebrity lists, hot topics, fan communities, interactive comments, etc.
The meeting is an attempt to comprehensively clean the “fandom environment” from verbal abuse, stigmatization, and instigation of fan wars. Such actions are inclusive of scontradictory behavior, insults, slander, rumors, malicious marketing and other harmful information.
iQiyi’s Proposed “Fandom Behavior Rectification” Plan
iQiyi stated that it has initiated its plans for the rectification of negative fandom behavior. It wi focus on rectifying behaviors such as “promoting minors to chase their idols without a bottom line.” It will also actively clean up harmful information that has been released on the internet, while also condoning the unhealthy fandom practices.
The Chinese media giant also emphasized that it resolutely opposed the act of minors assisting in fund-raising activities for their idols, voting for their idol’s rankings and other various violations. It also stands against the politicization of fandoms and behaviors such as verbal abuse, instigating a confrontation, malicious reporting [of each other’s posts], violations of privacy and other irrational idol chasing behavior. It will also focus on cleaning up all information that does not abide by the normal order of network information dissemination, such as the purchase of bot accounts to boost the idol ranking list, professional anti-fans, malicious marketing etc.
This is in response to the meeting on June 15, 2021, where the Central Cyberspace Administration of China decided to carry out a two-month special operation of “clearing the fandom chaos” across the country.
This special action would address prominent issues in the online “fan circles”, focusing on key issues such as celebrity lists, hot topics, fan communities, interactive comments, etc. It is an attempt to comprehensively clean ‘fandom environment” from verbal abuse, stigmatization, and instigation of fan wars, inclusive of confrontations, insults, slander, rumors, malicious marketing and other harmful information.
Why Is iQiyi Involved In A Nation-wide “Clearing The Fandom Chaos” Online Campaign?
iQiyi’s move is believed to be taken in response to the recent scandals that have been associated with their survival show Youth With You 3. The survival show was indefinitely put on hold by the state media watchdog and none of the trainees who participated in the show made their debut.
A multitude of reasons contributed to the survival show’s suspension, including alleged food wastage caused by fans who purchased products without consuming them. These fans sought to only use the “QR” code on the products to cast votes for their idols, disposing the rest of the product.
Also read: Chinese Netizens React to iQiyi’s Action Plan To “Rectify Fandom Behavior”
