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- China is banning social media influencers for flaunting lavish lifestyles and promoting materialism.
- The Cyberspace Administration of China launched a crackdown to discourage wealth displays in April.
- An influencer dubbed "China's Kim Kardashian" was barred from Douyin, the Financial Times reported.
Flaunting a lavish lifestyle to promote materialism can get you thrown off social media in China.
Since April, China has been busy cracking down on influencers who promote ostentatious lifestyles as a means of gaining profit.
China's internet regulator, Cyberspace Administration of China, launched a campaign last month to discourage social media users from "deliberately showcasing a lavish lifestyle built on wealth," the Financial Times reported.
One influencer who's been a casualty of the crackdown is Wang Hongquanxing, who's been dubbed "China's Kim Kardashian" and had 4.3 million followers on the Chinese version of TikTok, Douyin, the report said.
Others, including "Sister Abalone," who had over 2 million followers and gave tours of her luxurious homes, and "Mr Bo," who posted about luxury goods, have also had their accounts restricted, per the FT.
Platforms like Weibo, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu announced a wave of measures to curb ostentatious behavior on May 15.
Weibo's list of conduct that could see influencers barred includes showing off luxury homes and cars to promote products, flaunting large amounts of cash, and posting minors using luxury goods to "attract traffic and hype."
In 2021, China launched similar measures to curb influencers posting "unethical" content.
The Cyberspace Administration of China announced at the time that celebrities could no longer "show off wealth" or "extravagant pleasure" on social media.
China has also clamped down on influencers posting fabricated stories online.
Influencer "Thurman Maoyibei" had her Doyin, Weibo, and BiliBili accounts seized in April after she shared a fake story of a boy whose homework books went missing, BBC News reported.
In the video, which went viral, she reportedly claimed that a coffee shop worker in Paris gave her two homework books that belonged to a Chinese student and said she'd return them to him.
This led to a viral hashtag and campaign to find the student.
China's Ministry of Public Security said the incident was a "typical example" of it taking action against misinformation, the BBC reported.
According to the report, the influencer apologized for "polluting the internet," and police said she and her company could receive a warning or detention as punishment.
Weibo, Douyin and Xiaohongshu didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.