Photo: Screenshot from Sina Weibo

As the Paris 2024 Olympics continues to grab headlines on Chinese social media, multiple platforms have launched campaigns to rectify distorted fan culture. So far, over 6,000 accounts have been dealt with.

In response to baseless hype about athlete romantic pairings, as well as disparaging and attacking athletes and coaching staff, which seriously damages the healthy online environment, several Chinese social media platforms, including lifestyle-sharing platform Xiaohongshu, BiliBili (the Chinese equivalent of YouTube), and online broadcaster MIGU Video, have released initiatives calling for viewers to be civilized spectators and to strengthen the regulation of livestreams, bullet screens, and comments.

China's X-like Sina Weibo has severely dealt with a number of accounts for posting irrational comments attacking athletes and members of the coaching staff following the competition of table tennis women's singles final at the Paris Olympics on Saturday.

China's Chen Meng defended her Olympic crown in the table tennis women's singles after defeating world No. 1 Sun Yingsha 4-2 in the final at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Following the competition, some netizens began to blame fans at the venue for only cheering for Sun instead of Chen, and began spreading negative rumors about other athletes in order to defend their favorites, with The Beijing News commenting on Sunday that some spectators went to great lengths to support the athletes, transforming a sports event into a "fan club."

According to a release from Weibo on Sunday, the irrational viewing behavior of some spectators during the course of the game sparked online debate. Certain Weibo users seized this opportunity to spread and amplify malicious speculation from external media sources, leading to further debate. Some users also posted irrational comments attacking athletes and members of the coaching staff.

In response to the malicious attacks and other behaviors in recent two days, the platform addressed over 12,000 items of illegal content and took action against more than 300 offending accounts, ranging from temporary bans to permanent bans based on the severity of the violations.

The platform once again calls on users to focus on the competition, engage in rational discussions, reject negative comments, respect the efforts of every athlete, and embrace the spirit of sportsmanship, teamwork, and perseverance in competitive sports. Weibo added that this was the correct way to support and admire athletes.

The platform will also continue to strengthen the investigation and handling of various violations, and is willing to join users in experiencing the purest charm of sports, cheering for Chinese Olympic athletes.

Meanwhile, other Chinese social media platforms such as Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, have also taken actions to combat the undesirable fan culture that has eroded the sports circle.

According to a statement released by Douyin on its official WeChat account on Monday, it launched in May a special rectification operation on various negative content targeting sportsmen on the platform.

However, the platform recently found that during the ongoing Paris Olympics, a few users were still reposting negative comments and engaging in baseless hype about athlete romantic pairings, disparaging athletes and coaching staff members, and even attacking some athletes.

According to Douyin, the platform has removed over 38,000 pieces of inappropriate content related to sports fan culture, imposing temporary or permanent bans on 445 accounts based on the severity of their violations during the ongoing Paris Olympics.

The platform reiterated that it will continue to rectify inappropriate content that violates athletes' privacy, including behaviors that expose or spread athletes' or other related personnel's private information.

Additionally, the platform will continue to address comments attacking and insulting athletes and coaching staff in defense of the commenters' favorite athletes, as well as spreading rumors that defame athletes' reputations.

Douyin also prohibits inciting conflicts between supporters of different athletes, encouraging other users to engage in mutual slandering, insults, and confrontational actions. It aims to maintain the order of online public opinion by banning behaviors such as buying trending topics, rigging rankings, inflating views, and manipulating comments.

Global Times