China cracks down on its influencers
After a several months disciplining so-called influencers, many of whom have been fined or have disappeared from public life, the Chinese government has published a series of eighteen rules and guidelines for this type of activity, including 31 explicitly defined activities, ranging from the celebrating luxury and extravagant lifestyles to financial schemes or the publication of content, including deep fakes, that distort or weaken the image of the Communist Party, the government or the country in general.
Furthermore (link in Chinese, automatic translation here), anybody wanting to publicly discuss legal, finance or health issues must be qualified to do so. The exact requirements are not specified in the new regulations, but it is assumed that this will act as a disincentive for influencers to think twice about sharing content considered socially dangerous because of its potential consequences on the public.
In addition, channels and platforms will not be allowed to give a platform for anybody who has previously accredited unethical behavior, and they will be prevented from creating new accounts to do so. The use of influencers in advertising campaigns on platforms such as Taobao, Alibaba and the like is common in China, with figures dedicated to trying to generate expectations about certain products, such as the so-called “Lipstick King”, Austin Li…
