The Chinese authorities have taken a course to combat the demonstration of luxury on social networks. Weibo, one of the country's largest platforms, reported a massive purge of posts “promoting wealth and the worship of money”.
Publications about expensive cars, luxury real estate, as well as content glorifying the carefree life available only to wealthy people were removed.
Tencent, Douyin and Xiaohongshu - other major players in the Chinese market - also announced the removal of such content.
Such measures are part of a broader campaign aimed at “cleansing the cultural environment of the Internet”, initiated by the PRC authorities in 2016.
The bans affected not only individual posts, but also entire accounts. Douyin, for example, reported blocking 4701 posts and 11 accounts in the first week of May. Xiaohongshu removed 4273 “inappropriate” posts and 383 accounts in two weeks, while Weibo removed more than 1100 posts.
The fight against displays of wealth is not limited to the virtual space. In 2018, the country's government called for reform of the wedding industry to eradicate trappings such as wasteful gifts, lavish ceremonies and increasingly high bride price demands. Money.onliner.by reports this with reference to The Guardian.
