The Economist - 04.12.2021

68 Business TheEconomistDecember4th 2021

Internetcensorship

Cancel culture,

Beijing-style

F

ans of huo zunwere dismayed in Au­

gust  when  images  of  the  pop  star  were

blurred out during a performance on “Call

Me  By  Fire”,  a  Chinese  reality  show.  Mr

Huo’s  hands  were  visible  for  some  se­

quences. But when he came into the frame

it appeared as if he was standing in a puff of

smoke enveloping his body. “Fogging”, as it

is known, has become common on the Chi­

nese internet. Censorship rules require ac­

tors  who  have  committed  crimes  to  be

blurred out, or completely erased. 

Mr Huo’s offence was a public break­up

with his girlfriend. He had violated no law.

But that was enough for the government to

deem  him  an  unsavoury  character.  Inter­

net  users  are  increasingly  affected  by  a

spurt  of  Communist  Party  cancel  culture

targeting ever more innocuous behaviour.

The broad aim of the campaign, which has

been going on for the past six months, is to

cleanse  Chinese  cyberspace  of  entertain­

ment at odds with socialist values. 

There appear to be two targets. The first

is  a  business  model  with  4.9trn  yuan

($769bn) of annual revenues: the fan econ­

omy, that has sprung up around web celeb­

rities, fan groups and streaming platforms.

In  the  most  recent  set  of  rules,  issued  in

late  November,  the  Cyberspace  Adminis­

tration of China (cac) said that brand cam­

paigns  featuring  celebrities  would  be  al­

lowed to show ads only in designated spac­

es. From now on, China’s huge fan groups

will be monitored by the authorities.

To aid the crackdown the cachas been

increasing  its  powers  in  recent  months,

even  investing  in  internet  firms.  Further

new  regulations  suggest  that  its  objective

is  to  stop  China’s  internet  groups  using

highly­stimulating content to ramp up in­

ternet traffic, which is the driving force be­

hind  internet  platforms’  ad  revenues  and

live­streaming e­commerce. The latter was

worth  1.2trn  yuan  last  year,  an  197%  in­

crease from the year before.

The second target of the cac’s campaign

is  celebrity  itself.  The  new  rules  create  an

official blacklist of celebrities that bans all

mention  of  the  names  included.  This  will

formalise  the  treatment  that  Mr  Huo  and

others have received after committing so­

cial  improprieties  or  wrongdoing  such  as

tax  evasion.  On  November  23rd  the  China

Association of Performing Arts published a

list of 88 internet celebrities who had com­

mitted some transgression. Weibo, a Twit­

ter­like service, was forced to ban 145 celeb­

rity  accounts  in  August  for  infractions

such as “insulting and slandering martyrs

and inciting illegal gatherings”. 

The tightening grip is ostensibly part of

President  Xi  Jinping’s  “common  prosperi­

ty”  initiative.  It  is  an  attempt  to  make  the

country  more  equitable  after  years  of

growth that created a vast digital economy

dominated  by  several  internet  platforms,

in  particular  e­commerce  giant  Alibaba

and  gaming  and  social­media  group  Ten­

cent.  Over  the  past  year  Mr  Xi  has  made

clear his plan to take control of the internet

industry.  The  entertainment  crackdown

under  way  stems  from  the  government’s

desire  to  cap  the  “absurd  financial  gains”

made  by  internet  celebrities,  says  Enchi

Chang, a digital marketing specialist. Chi­

na’s  Communist  Party  has  also  grown  un­

comfortable with the ability of huge inter­

net  stars  and  their  fans  to  communicate

beyond the scope of its control. 

The  upending  of  celebrity  culture  will

have  a  big  impact  on  China’s  internet

groups.  The  country’s  fan  economy,  com­

bining  entertainment  and  consumption,

was  expected  to  be  worth  about  $1trn  by

2023.  If  the  new  ad  rules  are  strictly  en­
      forced,  companies  such  as  Kuaishou  and
      Bilibili,  a  video­streaming  service,  will  be
      hit.  Both  groups  enjoyed  a  rapid  rise  in
      their ad revenues last year, when total on­

H ONG KONG

The Communist Party targets internet

celebrities and fan groups T

hebattletobetopofthechartson

ChristmasDayhasbeenwoninre­

centyearsbythelikesofTaylorSwift,Ed

SheeranandArianaGrande.Butlately

thesesingershavefacedcompetition

fromanunexpectedsource:the20th

century.Despitethebesteffortsofto­

day’syoungstars,theDecembercharts

havebecomedominatedbymusicians

whoarewellintomiddleage,ordead.

OnChristmasDayfiveyearsago,

everysingleinthetoptenoftheBillboard

Hot100,a chartofAmerica’smostpop­

ularsongs,wasa newrelease.In 2017

MariahCareycreptinatnumbernine

withhermassive23­year­oldhit,“AllI

WantforChristmasisYou”.Sincethen

theoldieshaveshuffledrelentlessly

forward(seechart).LastChristmashalf

ofAmerica’stoptensongsweremore

thanhalfa centuryold.IndeedMsCarey,

thenaged51,wasoneoftheyounger

artists:twoofherfellowcharttoppers

weredrawinga pension;threehadjoined

theheavenlychorus.

Oldhitshavebeenrevivedbynew

technology.Billboard’schartsusedtobe

basedpredominantlyonrecordsales,as

wellasincorporatingthenumberof

radioplays.Butsince 2015 itsevolving

formulahastendedtogivethegreatest

weighttothenumberoflistenson

streamingserviceslikeSpotify.The

resultisthatrecordslike“JingleBell

Rock”(1957)byAmericancountrysinger

BobbyHelms,whichnolongergenerate

manyphysical­formatsalesbutwhich

stillgetstreamedonrepeatinDecember,

havebeencatapulteduptherankings.

TheChristmas­chartsphenomenon

illustrateswhyinvestorsarere­evaluat­

ingmusicians’backcatalogues.Stream­

erspayrights­holdersa smallsumfor

everyplayofa song,sooldfavourites

whosephysicalsaleshadlongagodwin­

dledhavereturnedtoearninga steady

income.Artistswithyear­roundappeal

havebeencashinginontheirnewly

sought­afteroeuvres.LastyearBobDylan

soldhiscollectiontoUniversalMusic

Group,theworld’sbiggestrecordlabel,

fora sumreportedlyover$300m.On

November30thbmg, anothermusic

company,saidit hadboughttheheavy­

metalcollectionofMötleyCrüe.

Streamingmaymeana newpayday

forenduringlypopularartists,butit saps

someoftheexcitementfromtheChrist­

mascharts.MsCarey,whoclaimedsec­

ondplaceinBillboard’srankinglastyear

andfirstplacetheyearbeforethat,has

alreadybegunherfestiveassaultonthis

year’scharts:atthetimeofwritingshe

hadreachednumber12,andrising.

Christmasmaybe“TheMostWonderful

TimeoftheYear”(lastyear’snumber­

sevenhit),butit isalsobecomingthe

mostmusicallypredictable.

Themusicbusiness

Ghosts of Christmas past

MariahCarey’sseasonalubiquityillustratestheneweconomicsofstreaming

There’s no one quite like Grandma

United States, Billboard Hot 100

Christmas chart positions

Source:Billboard

Mariah Carey, 1994

All I Want For Christmas Is You

Chart position

Current Classics

1

5

10

2015 16 17 18 2019

Bobby

Helms, 1957

Jingle Bell Rock

Burl Ives, 195

A Holly Jolly

Christmas