China’s Cyberspace Administration, the country’s national internet regulator, has launched a crackdown on influencers displaying wealth on social media in a bid to not only attract more followers but also compete on who’s doing better. The authority says the behaviour has led to cases of influencers involving themselves in fraudulent activities just to hit their ‘wealth targets’, which in turn they publish on social media.
“Ordinary Chinese see all this online content that’s so disconnected from reality and people who seem so happy and wealthy; it creates a pretty warped psychology,” says a rep who is leading the crackdown, adding that “in most cases, it transforms the straight thinking of people genuinely working to get that kind of wealth.”
Following the crackdown, top Chinese influencers with over 2 million followers each have lost their social media accounts after their behaviour being marked as “going against community guidelines,” as the new directive prohibits public figures from “displaying or hyping a large number of luxury goods, jewellery, cash, and other assets.”
So common is the behaviour in China that during the COVID pandemic, Chinese influencers inveted the ‘Show Your Wealth’ challenge on TikTok, which went viral in hours. The challenge got influencers lying beside their luxurious rides, with all kinds of lush items spread on the floor.
