A screenshot of Douyin's statement

China's major short-video platform Douyin, the domestic version of TikTok, announced on Tuesday that disciplinary actions were taken against 11 social media accounts including one belonging to former national gymnastics champion Wu Liufang.

Wu's account was penalized with a ban, suspending its monetization privileges and removing the followers she had gained through misconduct, after Wu sparked controversy with flirty dance videos and a public spat with Olympic champion Guan Chenchen in November.

The November incident drew widespread attention, temporarily halting Wu's ability to gain followers on social media. Upon restoration on December 1, her account experienced a surge of over 6 million followers before stagnating, though with no further video updates or livestreams.

Data from Wu's Douyin account showed on Tuesday that the number of followers of her account has drastically decreased from over 6.3 million to only over 44,000.

Dahai Xingchen, the multi-channel network (MCN) agency behind Wu's account, also faces a 30-day restriction on account management for manipulating Wu's account to publish vulgar content to attract fans, Douyin's Safety Center said.

"To maintain a clean online environment, Douyin imposed multiple penalties over 11 accounts using methods such as bans on posting, suspension of monetization privileges, and the removal of followers gained through misconduct," Douyin's statement reads.

"The MCN agency Dahai Xingchen had repeatedly leveraged accounts to disseminate vulgar content to attract followers, causing significant negative impact," according to the statement.

Global Times