From BTS & IU’s Fanclubs To Lisa, Accounts Deleted From Weibo Due To Violation Of Laws In China
‘Lisa’s Weibo account deleted’ has been a hot topic during the past few days
According to reports on November 4th, the personal Weibo account of BLACKPINK’s Lisa has suddenly been removed. Reporters tried to look for Lisa’s Weibo account but only saw the short notice, “This account can no longer be viewed due to reports of violations of laws, regulations, and the Weibo Community Agreement”. This caused rumors of a ban on Lisa’s activities in China to spread.
People in the entertainment industry speculate that the main reason was Lisa’s nude show in Paris. Earlier in September, Lisa caused a stir as she confirmed her participation in the performances of the cabaret show in Paris for three days. As such, the majority of netizens believe that the female idol had violated the Regulations on maintaining the dignity of celebrities in China due to her 19+ shows.
Accordingly, the regulations on maintaining celebrities’ dignity strictly prohibit activities, such as gambling, drug use, violence, and the promotion of obscene performances. Lisa is the BLACKPINK member with the highest recognition and popularity in the Chinese market. She has also appeared on various Chinese programs. As a result, it is speculated that the Chinese authorities blocked Lisa’s SNS in order to prevent the negative influence of her involvement in highly provocative performances.
In fact, various SNS accounts have been closed and suspended in China. In particular, many fanclubs doing excessive fundraising or individuals spreading inappropriate content have been removed from Weibo.
2 years ago, in 2021, over 20 Weibo fanclub accounts for Korean celebrities, such as IU, Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon, Jang Won-young, etc., were also suspended for a month. In particular, BTS Jimin’s fanclub account was suspended due to their large fundraising and aircraft promotion for a birthday celebration. These fan-supporting activities were said to have violated the government’s policy emphasizing wealth distribution for the realization of ‘common prosperity’. Therefore, K-pop fans’ fundraising culture and other practices that can cause income inequality are subject to regulation.
At that time, a newspaper wrote, “Some Korean entertainment companies are exploiting idol culture among Chinese fans for profits. It’s a form of ‘censorship’ imposed by the Communist Party not only in politics and society but also in popular culture.”
In China, where other social media sites, such as Instagram and Facebook, are blocked, Weibo is the main channel for communication between celebrities and fans. Therefore, Lisa’s fans were very disappointed when the female idol’s account was deleted. Some netizens used VPN to bypass The Great Firewall in China to search for information on the deletion of Lisa’s account and were very surprised to find out that it was due to ‘violation of laws’.
Source: Hankyung
