KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 ― China's video streaming platform, iQiyi has announced it will stop screening all idol competition programmes, labelling them as unhealthy.
This comes following a crackdown by authorities, with Beijing criticising those that encourage celebrity worship.
Reuters reported that iQiyi, which is China's equivalent of Netflix, had a number of hit programmes such as Youth With You that allow viewers to vote for their choice of contestants by purchasing products with voting codes.
Beijing, however, has in recent months been criticising such shows and the overall fostering of what it called “unhealthy fan culture” after celebrities including Canadian pop star Kris Wu and Chinese actor Zhang Zhehan were embroiled in scandals.
“We will cancel idol talent shows and off-site online voting, be responsible as a platform, resist bad influences, and maintain a healthy and clean internet as well as audio-visual environment for our users,” the company said in a statement.
iQiyi stopped the third season of Youth With You before its finale in May after fans of the show were filmed disposing of the bulk of beverages bought in large amounts for the voting codes.
The Internet has been the target of an unprecedented wide-ranging regulatory crackdown which has seen authorities rebuke and punish companies on areas from monopolistic behaviour to consumer rights.
China's Twitter equivalent Sina Weibo took down an online list that ranks celebrities by popularity recently after state media said social media platforms ought to rein in the promotion of celebrity culture to protect children.
Celebrities were also not spared.
On Tuesday, the China Federation of Literary and Art Workers Professional Ethics Committee had in a forum issued a proposal advocating strict self-discipline for actors and artistes.
