Lyra Martin Culture 06.23.2022 12:Jun PM EDT

China's Newest Regulations Target Livestreamers and Content Creators, Set Qualifications to Post Medical, Law, and Finance Content

The Chinese government announces an ordinance that bans 31 behaviors, including showing off luxurious lifestyles.

Three influencers were banned from using social media platforms after evading tax obligations, while another famous personality's recent stream ended quickly after showing a tank-shaped ice cream.

China's Newly Published Regulation Forbids Streamers From Showing 31 Conducts

China recently issued a live-streaming industry ordinance listing 31 banned behaviors, extending the benchmark for influencers to talk about specific topics in the government's latest effort to regulate the booming digital economy. This is after the reports of the Chinese government drafted a provision that tightens its cybercensorship.

On Wednesday, June 22, the National Radio and Television Administration and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism published an 18-point guideline. The issued policy demands Chinese influencers to have relevant qualifications to discuss on their platforms. The topics stated in the guideline should regard law, finance, medicine, and education. Yet, those in command did not give specific qualifications needed.

Publishing content that may weaken or deform the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, the socialist system, or the country's reforms and opening-up are part of the 31 banned behaviors in live-streaming sessions. Aside from the said conducts, using deepfake technologies to tamper with the images of party or state leaders and deliberately "hyping up" sensitive issues and attracting public attention are also prohibited behaviors.

The guideline also said that live-streamers are outlawed from displaying lavish lifestyles, such as luxury products and cash. This new regulation has been anchored as the live-streaming e-commerce industry is undergoing rapid shifts amid constricted critical examination and economic headwinds.

Chinese Known Influencers Banned From Using Media Platforms After Breaking Protocols

Some of the most popular live-streamers on Alibaba Group Holding's live-streaming e-commerce platform, known as Taobao Live and the owner of South China Morning Post, have slipped from favor on several bases. This has left brands racing to look for new methods to sell their products.

China's renowned "lipstick king," Austin Li Jiaqi, who gained prominence after selling 15,000 tubes of lipstick in just five minutes, shortly ended a live-streaming program on June 3. It is after he reportedly exhibited a tank-shaped ice cream.

The tank image is a frequent target of Chinese censors because of its affiliation with the lethal Tiananmen Square crackdown by the country's troops against pro-democracy protesters in Beijing back on June 4, 1989.

The 'lips stick man' has more than 64 million followers, who suddenly disappeared and was absent at an organized sales session on Sunday for Taobao Live, which has left millions of fans watching online clueless about what happened.

The Chinese social media celebrity's no-show on his most expected virtual shows may risk the live-streaming sales drive of Taobao Marketplace amidst the country's annual 618 shopping festival.

Additionally, other Chinese influencers are also facing career dilemmas. Another Chinese influencer Huang Wei, widely known as Viya, paid a penalty of 1.3 billion yuan (US$210 million) for tax evasion late last year. After such a case, Wei has never had another public view.

Before Huang Wei got into tax issues, other celebrities such as Zhu Chenhui and Lin Shanshan, two top influencers, were fined tens of millions of yuan in November for tax evasion each. Both of them also saw their social media accounts and e-commerce stores disappear. Regarding this, the new set of policies released on Wednesday also highlights that live-streamers should report their income honestly and meet their tax responsibilities under regulations.

Also, according to the rules, those public figures who have violated the law or gone unethical must be forbidden by the media from having the opportunity to communicate their opinions publicly, hold public undertakings, make a new account or switch to another platform.