HONG KONG — One month before the 26th birthday of Park Jimin, a member of the South Korean boy band BTS, his fans in China pooled money to plaster his photographs and a declaration of their “eternal love” on the exterior of an airplane.
As pictures of the customized Jeju Air plane circulated widely in China last week, Weibo, a Chinese microblogging platform, took notice. It accused the fan account of “illegal fund-raising,” and on Sunday, it banned the page from posting on the site for 60 days.
The First in the world—Customized Exclusive Airplane in cooperation with Jeju Air
— PARKJIMINBAR (@JIMINBAR_CHINA) September 1, 2021
Period: 9.1-11.30
Flight Number: HL8087
Note: The route may be changed due to some special reasons, please download Flightradar24 to check the flight information. pic.twitter.com/vp6AMpqjgd
Weibo did not stop there. Hours later, the social media platform said that it would also suspend 21 other K-pop fan accounts for a month, including those that worship other BTS members; the girl group Blackpink; and EXO, a band with Chinese members, after receiving complaints.
It was not immediately clear what social media crimes the fan accounts for Blackpink and EXO were deemed to have committed, but the move by Weibo came amid the backdrop of a broader government crackdown on celebrity worship and online fan culture in China.
Beijing has recently taken steps to rein in fan clubs amid growing concern that the quest for online attention and celebrity adulation is...
Read Full Story: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/06/business/china-bts-kpop-fans.html
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