"Is This Culture?" Hidden Camera in Rental Car with GPS Tracker... China Takes Action Against Overstepping Stalker Fans
18-Year-Old Stalker Girl Case Highlights Issue
Celebrity Location Info Sold to Other Sasaeng Fans
"Eradicate Confusing Fan Culture," Authorities Warn
Stalking famous celebrities and attempting to film them with cameras. Secretly attaching illegal tracking devices to cars and monitoring every move of the celebrities. These are criminal acts committed by some malicious sasaeng fans in China. As the toxic fan culture increasingly crosses the line, authorities have also taken action.
Hong Kong media outlet South China Morning Post (SCMP) has detailed the criminal activities of some sasaeng fans in China over the past few years.
The turning point when sasaeng fans in China came under scrutiny was the so-called "Hongqiao Diva Incident" in 2017. At that time, an 18-year-old girl named Gongyang was caught stalking a famous singer.
Gongyang made it her pleasure to check the singer’s schedule in advance, wait at places where he would appear, and illegally film him. She even reportedly gave up her studies to stalk the celebrity. Gongyang was caught sneaking into Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai and was later nicknamed the "Hongqiao Diva" online.
After this incident, the malicious stalking behavior of sasaeng fans began to be highlighted in the Chinese media. For example, Chinese actor Wang Yibo was a victim of stalking in 2021.
At that time, an illegal GPS tracking device was found on the rental car Wang Yibo was using. The two sasaeng fans who secretly attached the device monitored the signals daily and tracked all of Wang Yibo’s daily movements. They even sold Wang Yibo’s location information for a fee to other sasaeng fans who wanted such information.
It is reported that this was not the first time Wang Yibo suffered privacy invasion from sasaeng fans. He expressed his distress on the Chinese social networking service Weibo, saying, "Strangers knock on my hotel door, install tracking devices on my car. Wherever I go, there are always people following me."
As the malicious fan culture in China worsened, cyber investigation authorities also stepped up sanctions. In 2021, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) announced the "10 Plans to Eradicate Chaotic Fan Culture."
This plan included measures to stop the spread of harmful information and gossip about celebrities, as well as actions that provoke scandals involving idol groups.
The authorities decided to eradicate not only the malicious fan culture but also the exploitation of fans for money by celebrities and their agencies. For example, forcing fans to make payments to raise the ranking in celebrities’ "paid popularity votes" was included.
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Meanwhile, fan culture in China is already reported to have become a huge industry in itself. According to SCMP, the "fan culture industry" in China recorded 140 billion yuan (about 25.58 trillion won) last year. This is three times the size of the domestic K-pop fan industry (8 trillion won).
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