Dozens of Chinese celebrities have been banned from appearing in social media giant Sina Weibo’s rankings following a government crackdown that has exposed the prevalence of fake lists on the platform.
Prominent users of the microblogging platform such as Wang Sicong, the socialite heir of billionaire Dalian Wanda chairman Wang Jianlin, have been given a three-month ban from its “hot searches” list, which is supposed to represent the most frequent searches of its 360m monthly active users.
Weibo overtook Twitter — which is banned in China — in market capitalisation and user numbers last year. But its success has been threatened by Beijing’s increasing control of online discourse.