China’s ‘poor mountain girl’ was a fake. Chinese public security arrested 54 people, including Wang Hong (Chinese online influencer), who made profit by selling low-quality agricultural products through emotional sales.
They are accused of making fake videos and posting them on social media, appealing to emotions to help rural communities in need, selling agricultural products at high prices, and making unfair profits of 10 million yuan (approximately 1.8 billion won).
According to local media such as the Fengmyeon토토사이트 Newspaper on the 21st, the Public Security Bureau of Liangshan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, arrested Wang Hong, who had 2 to 3 million followers, on fraud charges.
There are 11 Wang Hongs, including ‘Liangshan Mengyang’, ‘Zhao Ling’er’, and ‘Liangshan Qubu’, and a total of 54 people, including officials of the one-man media company they belong to.
Liangsan Mengyang (21) became popular for his hard work as a farmer in the mountainous village of Liangshan, an impoverished area. He, who never lost a smile on his tanned face , posted videos of himself living brightly and optimistically on social media one after another.
He was loved by netizens and sold agricultural products on an online live broadcast, emphasizing that he farmed them himself.
In addition, Zhao Ling’er also sold agricultural products as he gained popularity after posting a video of himself doing farming. He consistently uploaded videos saying that while traveling in Liangsan, he happened to meet Liangsan Chubu, a kind and simple rural bachelor.
When their number of followers exceeded 2 million, they opened an online store, went on broadcasts, and sold agricultural products, generating sales of 700,000 yuan (about 130 million won) in 7 months.
Afterwards, netizens expressed their suspicions by capturing Liang Shanmeng wearing luxurious clothes.
Eventually, public security authorities began an investigation. Public security discovered that these people were celebrities belonging to a one-person media company, and that they had filmed a video directed according to a well-planned script. It was also revealed that they had been selling agricultural products purchased at low prices from various regions by disguising them as local specialties and selling them at high prices.
Public security authorities shut down 14 companies they operated, confiscated 20 tons of fake honey left over from sales, and froze 5 million yuan (about 900 million won) in funds.
As fraudulent practices by single-person media became a social problem, the Central Cybersecurity and Informatization Committee Office of the Chinese Communist Party last July cracked down on single-person media that cause social harm by exaggerating social issues or distributing bad information, rumors, and vulgar and sensational videos. We started strengthening.
In addition, internet platforms were ordered to manage problematic individual media on a blacklist database and report them to the authorities.
Afterwards, the Douyin (Chinese version of TikTok) accounts of famous Wang Hong, including Shu Cai, who had 12 million followers, were shut down one after another for reasons such as violating regulations. Previously, on the 18th of last month, the Douin account of Wang Hong ‘Elu’, which had 48 million followers, was closed.