In the latest assault on the entertainment sector, China has prohibited celebrities from flaunting their wealth on social media.
China’s Cyberspace Administration declared on Monday that celebrities in the country will not be permitted to use social media to “show off affluence” or “extravagant pleasure.”
Celebrity culture and the desire for wealth are seen in China as a harmful western import that challenges Communism by encouraging individualism rather than collectivism.
According to state media, conference attendees were encouraged to ‘actively forsake crude and kitsch inferior tastes, and consciously oppose the decadent ideals of money worship, hedonism, and radical individualism.
The Chinese government is mandating all social media platforms to monitor and report any suspected illegal and criminal conduct of exposed stars, as well as group conflicts involving supporters’ in order to enforce the guidelines.
Because Western social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are banned in China, these laws will apply to popular Chinese social media websites such as Weibo, Renren, and Youku.
