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- Weibo, a Chinese social media site similar to Twitter, suspended 21 K-pop fan accounts.
- The company said it would remove groups exhibiting "irrational star-chasing behavior."
- The move comes amid China's broader crackdown on the entertainment industry.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
One of China's most popular social-media sites just suspended 21 K-pop fan groups for "irrational star-chasing behavior" amid a wider clampdown by the Chinese government on the entertainment industry, CNN reported.
Weibo, a heavily censored microblogging site similar to Twitter, stated it would ban fan accounts for 21 groups, including Blackpink and BTS, for 30 days for violating community regulations. Weibo has around 566 million users.
The Chinese government has taken a flurry of actions in recent months aimed at reining in the entertainment industry and fan culture.
Last month, Zhao Wei, one of China's most popular actors, was mysteriously erased from China's internet in a single evening, with her Weibo page taken down and movies she starred in pulled from streaming sites. Hashtags linked to discussion about Zhao were also censored.
In August, the National Radio and Television Administration called for a boycott of "sissy idols" and told broadcasters to cut artists with "incorrect political positions" from their programs. China has also limited children's video game time to three hours a week and barred kids from playing video games during the school week.
China has long restricted the entertainment industry, including by forcing game developers to jump through sometimes absurd hoops to get their games approved and cutting sex and violence out of popular TV shows like Game of Thrones.
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