China cracks down on ‘fan culture’ during the Olympics, arresting a woman for social media posts

20:35 JST, August 7, 2024

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese woman has been detained for allegedly slandering others on social media in a crackdown on what Chinese authorities see as harmful negativity during the Olympics from super-zealous fans and online fan clubs.

Beijing police said in statement issued late Tuesday that they had arrested the 29-year-old suspect after receiving tips from the public that some people had made defamatory posts about athletes and coaches after a closely watched women’s table tennis final on Saturday.

Both finalists were Chinese, and table tennis is the national sport. Heated comments on social media, echoed to a degree by a partisan crowd in Paris that favored one of the competitors, sparked a backlash in China. At least three major social media platforms deleted or otherwise restricted thousands of posts and comments and suspended the accounts of hundreds of users. Several state media criticized the outbursts in articles headlined, “Do not let fan culture erode China’s table tennis.”

China’s internet regulator has cracked down previously on similar “fan culture” built around entertainment stars. The phenomenon spread to athletes in China following the 2016 Rio Olympics, according to the state-owned Global Times newspaper, which said fan leaders start battles on social media, manipulate comment sections and attack athletes and others, leading to fierce conflicts between fan groups.

There is also money to be made, the Global Times said, with some fans offering autographs of the star or surreptitiously taken photos for sale on social media.

The women’s table tennis final was a rematch of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The most vocal supporters were for Tokyo silver medalist, Sun Yingsha, whose popularity soared after those Games and hit new heights after she won gold in mixed doubles in Paris.

Sun was ranked No. 1 in the women’s singles and didn’t lose a game in her journey to the finals. She dominated her opponent, Chen Meng, in the first game of the finals but then faltered. Chen won the match 4-2, capturing her second straight gold medal.

The outcome didn’t sit well with Sun’s fans, who flooded social media with comments hostile to Chen.

Sina Weibo, a top social media platform in China, said the day after the match that it had removed more than 12,000 posts and comments, and suspended more than 300 accounts. Two short-video platforms including Douyin, which operates TikTok overseas, later said they had dealt with thousands of videos and comments and suspended or banned hundreds of users since the Games started.

Police didn’t say what the arrested woman had posted but accused her of “maliciously fabricating information and blatantly slandered others, causing a negative social impact.”