China shuts down influencer's accounts over fake story

Chinese authorities have taken down the accounts of a top influencer who fabricated the viral story of a boy and his missing homework books.

Thurman Maoyibei's accounts on Chinese TikTok Douyin, Weibo and BiliBili all vanished over the weekend.

Police said she and her company face administrative punishment, which could range from a warning to detention.

In a video posted Friday night, she has apologised for "polluting the internet".

Thurman Maoyibei is the influencer's social media persona. Police in the southern city of Hangzhou disclosed her surname as Xu. She has a combined following of 30 million on various Chinese platforms.

According to authorities, Ms Xu and her colleague with the surname Xue produced a series of fabricated videos and spread them on multiple platforms starting on 16 February.

Ms Xu claimed that while on holiday in Paris for the Lunar New Year, coffee shop staff handed her two empty homework books that belong to a Grade 1 student named Qin Lang. She promised to bring the books back to the boy in China.

The story went viral and sparked a search for the boy across the country and the hashtags "Grade 1 Class 8 Qin Lang" and "Primary school kid lost homework in Paris" gained millions of views on Douyin and Weibo.

Ms Xu's videos were so widely shared even state-affiliated media reported on the topic. Some outlets called schools in the hopes of finding the boy, only to be told that he does not exist.

About a week after the first video was posted, Ms Xu claimed in a separate clip that she got in touch with the boy's parents and that the books were returned.

Hangzhou police said they received complaints about Ms Xu's viral video and launched an investigation. They found that Ms Xu and her colleague bought the books themselves for the purpose of making the viral video.

China's Ministry of Public Security listed the case as a "typical example" of its crackdown against online rumours. While a lot of online censorship focuses on dissident and political content, authorities have also started cracking down on non-political online falsehoods in recent years.

Since December, more than 1,500 people have been arrested in relation to online rumours and more than 10,700 people have been handed administrative punishment, the ministry says.

Ms Xu said she made up the story due to her "light legal consciousness" and she was sorry that she "disrupted the internet order and resulted in massive negative influence".

"I should clearly know my social responsibilities and should not create some content just to grab attention," she said.

"I call on my colleagues to learn from my lesson and never fabricate or spread false content. Let's work together to maintain a clean and healthy online environment," she added.

Xu, a fashion designer-turned vlogger, is popular for her content on daily life. She has been posting videos under the name Thurman Maoyibei since 2020.

While many welcomed the decision to close her accounts, some wonder if it was too harsh for a "harmless joke".

"She should have put her heart into creating content for such an influential account," a top Weibo comment reads.

"It was not right to fabricate the story, but isn't this too much. If every account follows this standard we will see many accounts shut down," another comment with more than 6,000 likes notes.