Accounts involved in showing off wealth and “promoting materialism” will be banned.
Several major Chinese social media networks, including Tencent, Douyin, Kuaishou, Sina Weibo, Bilibili and Xiaohongshu, issued announcements on Wednesday highlighting their commitment to cracking down on negative content like flaunting wealth, wastefulness, trends of extravagance and “promoting materialism”, reported The Global Times.
The accounts found violating these rules will be subject to removal and bans.
“The moves are part of a broader effort to promote rational consumption values and create a healthy online ecosystem,”
says the report.
In the statement issued by Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, the platform said it is committed to consistently monitoring and taking action against accounts and content that glorify ostentatious displays of wealth, materialism, and make harmful comparisons of luxurious lifestyles. Additionally, any content that unfairly flaunts one's privileged circumstances and social status, discriminates against, ridicules, or targets other social groups will also not be allowed.
Xiaohongshu, a Chinese lifestyle-sharing platform also known as Little Red Book, revealed a typical case in which the platform banned an account for repeatedly sharing content that flaunted significant wealth, which promoted harmful values and posed a potential risk of fraud.
In addition, Sina Weibo, China's equivalent of social media platform X, said that it "always advocates for a civilized and healthy online lifestyle, and encourages netizens to share and spread positive and uplifting forces, and jointly build a beautiful spiritual home on the internet." If users discover any related violations, they can report them for further investigation, it said.
In October 2023, a former transport bureau official in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, who retired in 2007, was expelled from the Communist Party of China over serious violations of Party discipline and laws. The case was triggered by the official's granddaughter, who had bragged on social media that her family has over 100 million yuan ($13.7 million) in property, sparking an online controversy.
Source: The Global Times
