Chinese influencer Thurman Maoyibei’s viral video latest in authorities’ false information crackdown
The influencer and fashion entrepreneur had her social media accounts banned and faces “administrative penalties” after she fabricated a story about finding children’s school books left in a Paris toilet.
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SINGAPORE: Authorities in Hangzhou have cracked down on a local influencer for “disturbing public order” through a viral social media video based on falsehoods.
On Apr 12, they announced that Ms Xu Jiayi, who goes by the online alias “Thurman Maoyibei” would face administrative penalties, according to local media. Details of what sanctions she will face are unclear.
Her accounts on social media platforms Douyin, Weibo and WeChat Video have also been suspended.
On the same day, the Ministry of Public Security named Ms Xu’s case in a list of 10 high-profile examples of misinformation.
The list comes on the back of a December 2023 national campaign to crack down on the spread of online rumors and false information.
The second half of Ms Xu's unique social media moniker is a mash-up of the Chinese characters for "cat", "one" and "cup". The reason for the choice of words is unclear, as is the reference to the word "Thurman".
In February, the 29-year-old influencer and fashion entrepreneur filmed herself in a Paris restaurant, attempting to locate the owner of two lost school books.
The books were brought to her by a waiter, who claimed he had found them in the eatery bathroom.
Ms Xu appealed to her approximately 40 million followers to help find the owner of the books, apparently a schoolboy back in China.
“Qin Lang from class eight, grade one, your winter vacation homework was left in a toilet in Paris,” Xu said to the camera, according to Chinese news site Sixth Tone.
Local media reported that the video, shared on multiple social media platforms on Feb 16, went viral, racking up more than 5 million likes on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, in just a few days.
It also became the third-highest trending topic on Chinese lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu during the 2024 Spring Festival holiday, which started on Feb 10.
The next day, a netizen surnamed “Yang” from Nantong in Jiangsu posted in the comments section of one social media platform claiming to be “Qin Lang’s uncle”. Yang used this claim to spread rumours, stage photos and livestreams, as well as fuelling an internet-wide search for “Qin Lang”.
According to Sixth Tone, people across China joined the search for the young boy and posts about the books racked up millions of reactions. West Lake District Public Security Bureau in Ms Xu’s hometown Hangzhou, received so many tipoffs, it involved its cyber police unit.
Local media and the Ministry of Public Security said Ms Xu posted again on Feb 19, claiming to have “found Qin Lang’s mother.”
However, it was later revealed that she had fabricated the whole story. Authorities found no records of a student named Qin Lang flying overseas during the Spring Festival period.
The public security agencies later found out that Ms Xu and her company director, known only as “Xue”, had purchased fake workbooks online and staged videos to be posted on social media.
On Apr 12, China’s Ministry of Public Security posted on its official WeChat account, warning members of the public that the heartwarming story, which had “quickly aroused the attention and heated discussions across the internet”, was falsified.
“Currently, the public security agencies in Hangzhou, Zhejiang have imposed penalties on Xu, Xue and the companies involved,” the ministry wrote. “They were also ordered (to) apologise publicly and have their accounts banned.”
Yang was also given a penalty and a ban on his account, said the ministry.
A check by CNA showed that several of Thurman’s social media accounts were taken down. Among them were microblogging platform Weibo, video hosting platform BiliBili and WeChat.
In an article, the ministry also reported that since December 2023, they had launched a campaign to “crackdown on online rumours”. As of Apr 12, more than 1,500 suspects have been arrested and more than 10,700 fined, according to local media.
Ms Xu’s story is the latest in a series of online personalities who have recently fallen afoul of authorities while peddling fake feel-good stories to exploit internet traffic.
One influencer was found to have faked her life in rural China to drive sales of “local merchandise".
According to the South China Morning Post, eight people in Sichuan Province were jailed after a young woman was revealed to have spread a false story about her belonging to an ethnic minority and her difficult life.
The 21-year-old had amassed almost 4 million followers online after she rose to fame in 2018. Using the pseudonym Liangshan Mengyang, she claimed she came from the Liangshan region in Sichuan and that she had raised her siblings herself after the death of her parents.
Liangshan said she sold “organic mountain products” to make money and posted videos of herself in ragged clothes in front of a crumbling home, the South China Morning Post reported.
As her Douyin follower count grew, the influencer began selling “local specialties” such as walnuts and edible bird’s nest, with most of the products selling out due to a growing interest in the Liangshan mountains and a desire to support local farmers.
However, the spike in sales quickly led to complaints about the quality of the products, Sixth Tone reported. It was also revealed that her parents were alive and that her lifestyle was far from what she portrayed.
According to Sixth Tone, these revelations triggered an investigation in June into the multi-channel agency that managed her and other influencers’ social media operations. Local authorities also found that the goods sold were sourced from a wholesale market.
The agency had also illicitly earned more than 10 million yuan (US$1.4 million), Sixth Tone reported. Following this, local authorities sentenced eight agency officials to nine to 14 months in prison and fines between 20,000 yuan and 100,000 yuan each.
Meanwhile, Liangshan Mengyang was sentenced to the best part of a year in jail. Another influencer, Liangshan Aze, received similar jail time. Both were also given hefty fines and had their Douyin accounts blocked.
In its report, the Ministry of Public Security reminded locals that the internet is not “a place outside of the law”.
Chinese internet users were asked to strictly abide by the relevant laws and regulations, and be mindful of their words and behaviour online.
When faced with online rumours or information that come from ambiguous sources or are difficult to verify, the ministry also reminded users to be more discerning and not spread or believe such rumours.
Local internet users were also reminded to report any online rumours to the relevant authorities or internet platforms, so as to “jointly create a clean and upright internet environment,” the Ministry of Public Security said.
