See In China, Bragging About Your Wealth Can Get You Censored: Online posts by users showing off their receipts, over-ordering food or scattering money have been deemed vulgar. Regulators say such content leads young people astray by Vivian Wang and Joy Dong of The New York Times.
This reminds me of the concept of "conspicuous consumption" from economist Thorstein Veblen (and something Adam Smith said, too-see links to related posts at the end). Excerpts:
"He started by exploring the sauna, built into the palatial bathroom of the hotel’s presidential suite. Then the video blogger moved on to the dining room, where a chef waited with a glistening steak. The next morning, he awoke to a lobster breakfast, which he ate cross-legged in bed.
“Today’s bill: 108,876 kuai,” or more than $17,000, he said after checking out from the hotel in Chengdu, China, waving his receipt at the camera. “I slept away the equivalent of multiple iPhones,” he giggled.
The video was tacky, sure. Ostentatious, definitely. Now, it’s also a violation of Chinese internet regulations.
The Chinese authorities have declared war on content deemed to be “flaunting wealth,” amid sweeping calls by China’s leader, Xi Jinping, to combat inequality. As Mr. Xi positions himself for a third term, he has cast himself as a man of the people, leading a campaign against entrenched interests.
Financial regulators have cracked down on the country’s tech giants, extracting pledges of loyalty and hefty donations. Tycoons have been detained on corruption accusations. And online, the authorities have ordered social media platforms to scrub the hugely popular videos that make clear the gap between the haves and have-nots.
Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, by posting videos where he toured expensive hotels and sampled delicacies. But after being singled out by state media, he deleted those videos. His recent posts show him trying convenience store snacks. (He did not respond to requests for comment.)
“We will strengthen our management and increase the power of our crackdown, to make internet platforms feel there is a sword above their heads,” Zhang Yongjun, a senior official at China’s cyberspace administration, said at a news conference this year.
There is no clear definition of what constitutes flaunting or wealth. While officials have laid out a few specific examples, such as showcasing receipts or over-ordering food, they have largely outlined a sort of “I know it when I see it” rule."
"In a viral trend in 2018, Chinese users posted photos of themselves splayed on the ground surrounded by expensive objects. An entire industry exists to help users look richer than they are."
"Douyin and Kuaishou were each fined about $31,000 in October for allowing an advertisement that the authorities said promoted “excessive consumption.”
Xiaohongshu (an Instagram-like lifestyle app) announced last month that it had improved its algorithm for identifying wealth flaunting."
Related posts
Conspicuous Consumption, Conspicuous Virtue, Thorstein Veblen (and Adam Smith, too!)
Payless sold its discount shoes for $600 a pair at mock luxury influencer event
Federal Reserve Economists May Have Discovered Another Cause Of Bankruptcy (if a neighbor wins the lottery people start spending more on consumption to keep up)
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