China’s crackdown on celebrity culture took another turn when 22 fan accounts were recently suspended by social media site Sina Weibo. A group of k-pop fans became the victims as the site called the fandom “irrational star-chasing behaviour”. 

The fandom includes that of the K-pop boy band BTS too. This comes after they crowdfunded on the social media platform to customise an aeroplane as a gift for BTS vocalist Park Ji-Min’s 26th birthday this year. The platform went on to accuse a fan account of “illegal fundraising”. 

The company said in a statement that it “firmly opposes such irrational star-chasing behaviour and will deal with it seriously”. It also promised to “purify” online discussions and “regulate community order” on its platform.

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In the wake of suspension, The BTS fan account was banned from posting for 60 days, followed by other K-pop stans of acts like Blackpink, GOT7 and EXO, who were banned from posting for 30 days. 

Amid an ongoing clampdown on fan culture and entertainment industry in China, two government agencies released guidelines claiming that would ban broadcasts by “vulgar internet celebrities” and “feminine-looking men” because it does not align with what the country wants to promote. 

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) announced 10 measures to “clean up” the “chaos” of celebrity fan clubs in June

It said it would “prohibit activities that persuade children to contribute money to their idols, and disband social media groups that are deemed a bad influence”. 

Media analyst Kerry Allen told the BBC the major cause of concern in Beijing earlier this year were “fan clubs that mobilise, either in person or online, to stage protests for their favourite stars”. 

K-pop fans go all out expressing their obsession with the stars. So much so, that they splurge thousands of dollars to promote their idols on billboards in New York’s Times Square, among many other acts.