'Milk incident'

The irrational pursuit of stars attracted government attention after a particular incident shocked the nation.

During the five-day May Day holiday this year, video footage showing a group of young people pouring milk down drains to support their idols in a talent show went viral on Chinese social media platforms.

The fans merely wanted the bottle caps that had a QR code printed on the inside.

By scanning the code, which represented a ballot, they could vote for contestants on Youth With You Season 3, one of the country's most-viewed reality shows, to help competitors be standout performers and form a pop band.

Some young followers who bought more milk than they could drink just scanned the codes before dumping the bottles.

Footage of the "milk incident "enraged the public and sparked action by the authorities.

On May 10, the Beijing Municipal Radio and Television Bureau said it was strengthening the regulation and supervision of online reality shows. It said talent programs should be prohibited from obtaining votes through improper means, including raising money and group funding.

The Cyberspace Administration of China, the country's top internet watchdog, also pledged to make greater efforts to combat those who lure young people to follow stars irrationally, and to harshly punish online platforms that allow such behavior.

As the "milk incident" made headlines, iQiyi, the internet platform on which the show appeared, and Mengniu, the dairy company involved in the promotion, apologized to the public. The program was also canceled.

Marketing and promotion

Zhao Zhanling, a legal adviser for the Internet Society of China, said the incident was closely linked to the show's financing. He added that the problem of irrationally supporting pop idols has arisen frequently because some online platforms or entertainment agents benefit from such improper activities.

He said talent shows appeared to give fans the power to decide contest winners, "but in essence, it was about the program producer, the platform and the sponsors making money". Zhao added that this was why teenagers, without a strong ability to identify promotional activities, were easily manipulated in such circumstances.

"As a result, the targets of our efforts should be the marketing or promotional web accounts that encourage fans to slander or support stars by posting or deleting online comments, and also organizers who lure or manipulate fans to take part in irrational activities to increase online views and make profits."

In addition, internet platforms that allow such irregularities should be punished, Zhao said.

After the "milk incident", the China Association of Performing Arts issued a notice warning players in the industry against raising money from fans for commercial purposes.

Industry regulation

While intensifying efforts to inspect online platforms and combat those who lure young people into irrationally supporting idols, the authorities said the entertainment industry must also be urgently regulated following the detention of pop star Kris Wu on suspicion of rape at the end of last month.

On July 31, police in Beijing's Chaoyang district said in a statement on Sina Weibo that they had placed a 30-year-old Canadian man surnamed Wu under investigation after he was accused of tricking young women into having sex.

Many Chinese media outlets confirmed that the man was Wu, one of China's most high-profile celebrities who had more than 50 million followers on Sina Weibo.

As numerous people followed the ongoing investigation into Wu, screenshots of the star's fans' groups made headlines. In online chats, some of Wu's followers discussed whether to raise money to save him, or if they could visit him in detention.

This irrational talk caused widespread shock and also accelerated steps by the authorities to regulate celebrities and the entertainment industry.

Last week, associations in the television, film and music industries published notifications, clarifying that celebrities must abide by laws and ethical standards and devote more energy to their work.

The associations called for those working in the entertainment business to be much stricter with themselves as public figures and to set a good example for young people. The China TV Artist Association also said, "No one has the privilege to do whatever they want, no matter how much support they get from fans or how many online views they attract."

On Wednesday, the National Radio and Television Administration said it would carry out a one-month operation involving online variety shows in an attempt to curb the irrational worship of celebrities and misconduct committed while supporting stars.

It said idol-related reality shows would be its main supervision target, adding that it would strictly scrutinize the voting rules for such shows.