KUALA LUMPUR: In its efforts to discipline pop culture and celebrity fan clubs on social media, China's top internet watchdog has introduced regulations that strictly limit what celebrities, their agents and even fans can do on social media.
South China Morning Post recently reported that the new measures taken by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) included a limit on the number of accounts that they can have, a ban on showing off a luxury lifestyle, and restricting posts that showed their work and activities.
It said that according to the CAC notice, this was designed to "further strengthen the work related to online information regulation of entertainment stars".
The new rule also bans paparazzi from exposing the private life, home address or schedules of stars.
"Some online publicity about celebrities is undisciplined. Gossip and private information have occupied the front page and trending topics of some websites, taking up a lot of public resources," the notice explained.
Information about stars shall "adhere to the correct direction of public opinion and value orientation, and promote core socialist values."
Under the new rules, online platforms, especially social media and other information aggregators, will be required to monitor celebrity accounts and report any inappropriate activity to the authorities.
CAC also stipulated that each star agency should only have one account on each social media platform, and that fan club accounts need to be authorised by the agency.
The notice also banned the act of "whitewashing" a celebrity if he or she has violated the law or engaged in what is deemed as unethical behaviour.