Crackdown targets online activities that lure youngsters

Authorities look to stop youth from trolling fans, overspending on stars

Legal and media experts have praised an ongoing crackdown on online information related to entertainment idols, which they fear can be used to exploit and mislead youngsters.

The Cyberspace Administration of China launched a campaign last month to combat online activities that lure young people to spend large amounts of money on stars, irrationally follow their idols and become involved in mudslinging with fans of rival popular performers.

Wang Sixin, a professor specializing in internet rules and laws at Communication University of China, welcomed the two-month campaign, describing it as an "urgent and necessary" move to clean up cyberspace and help stop juveniles from blindly idolizing stars.

"Compared with drafting a regulation, which takes a lot of time, the crackdown is the most effective means to prevent minors who have poor critical-thinking abilities and are easily influenced from being misled or incited by harmful online information," he said, adding that idol fans are getting younger.

A survey cited by Legal Daily last month showed about 27 percent of people born between 1990 and 2000 idolized stars, but the figure hit 70 percent for those born after 2000. More than half of the idols' followers are students with no income, the survey said.

Wang said being obsessed with pop stars is common in adolescence and is not a big problem.

"But using business operations to lure young people without earnings to support their idols by paying a lot for celebrity-endorsed products or attending promotional events is undesirable," Wang said. "It's an improper marketing event or promotion."

Young people opening web accounts to post untrue content about celebrities or instigate arguments between fans to attract followers should also be stopped, Wang said.

Soon after the campaign was launched, Sina Weibo intensified efforts to crack down on problematic marketing accounts and users who incite battles between followers of different celebrities.

A total of 1,028 online topics sparking arguments were eliminated from July 24 to July 31, with 1,086 problematic accounts and 3,524 comments involving quarreling supporters also deleted.

Sina Weibo talked to some agencies of stars with millions of followers, such as popular singer and actor Xiao Zhan, suggesting they work together on sensible ways for fans to support their idols and keep the peace online.

Zhao Zhanling, a legal adviser with the Internet Society of China, suggested parents and teachers increase communication with children and try to understand why they support the idols.

He suggested some online platforms implement technical measures to impose restrictions on minors' use of their services.

"For example, the amount of monetary tips a minor can give to a livestreaming host in the form of gifts and how much money a child can top up his or her online account should be limited," he said.

It is also important to let a minor know that some of their behavior online is improper and might violate laws, Zhao added.

Statistics from the Beijing Internet Court back up Zhao's concerns.

It found 28 percent of 41,948 internet-related disputes it resolved from January to November last year were related to reputation infringement, and many of the defendants were students and jobless young people who supported their own idols by insulting or defaming other celebrities.

"They use ugly words, fake claims or uncouth language to attack people in cyberspace, while some were also discovered spending lots of valuable study time and money supporting their idols, infringing on the stars' privacy or even disturbing public order," said Jiang Ying, deputy president of the court.

As public figures, celebrities should accept some comments on their performances, even though some harsh words might make them unhappy, she said.

"But this does not mean anyone's affection for a pop star can be above the law," Jiang added.

Wang said regulating juveniles' online behavior will help prevent them from committing more serious offenses.

"What we want is to see young people sensibly support their idols, using their creativity and capability of organizing supportive activities to contribute something more useful to society," he said.