Chinese gold medalist Chen Meng (center), Chinese silver medalist Sun Yingsha (left) and Japanese bronze medalist Hina Hayata stand for the Chinese national anthem during the women’s singles table tennis medal ceremony at the 2024 Summer Olympics on Saturday in Paris.
20:35 JST, August 7, 2024
BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese woman has been arrested for allegedly slandering others on social media, part of a crackdown on what Chinese authorities see as damaging negativity during the Olympics by overenthusiastic fans and online fan clubs.
Beijing police said in a statement Tuesday evening that they had arrested the 29-year-old suspect after receiving tips from the public that some people had posted slanderous messages about athletes and coaches following a closely watched women’s table tennis final on Saturday.
Both finalists were Chinese, and table tennis is the national sport. Heated social media comments, echoed to some extent by a partisan crowd in Paris supporting one of the competitors, sparked a backlash in China. At least three major social media platforms deleted or otherwise restricted thousands of posts and comments and suspended the accounts of hundreds of users. Several state media criticized the outbursts in articles headlined, “Don’t let fan culture erode Chinese table tennis.”
China’s internet regulator has previously cracked down on a similar “fan culture” built around entertainment stars. The phenomenon spread to athletes in China after the 2016 Rio Olympics, according to the state-run Global Times, which said fan leaders started fights on social media, manipulated comment sections and attacked athletes and others, leading to fierce conflicts between fan groups.
According to the Global Times, there is also money to be made, as some fans offer to get the star’s autographs or secretly sell photos taken on social media.
The women’s table tennis final was a repeat of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. The loudest supporters were Sun Yingsha, the silver medalist in Tokyo. Her popularity soared after those Games and reached new heights after winning gold in the mixed doubles in Paris.
Sun was ranked No. 1 in the women’s singles and did not lose a single game on her way to the final. She dominated her opponent, Chen Meng, in the first game of the final but faltered thereafter. Chen won the match 4-2 and won her second consecutive gold medal.
Sun’s fans were not happy with the result, posting numerous hostile comments about Chen on social media.
Sina Weibo, one of China’s top social media platforms, said the day after the competition that it had deleted more than 12,000 posts and comments and suspended more than 300 accounts. Two short-video platforms, including Douyin, which operates TikTok overseas, later said they had processed thousands of videos and comments and suspended or banned hundreds of users since the Games began.
Police did not disclose what the arrested woman posted, but accused her of “maliciously fabricating information and openly defaming others, which had a negative social impact.”
