Internet celebrity Xiucai's Douyin account banned

The account of "Xiucai," an Internet celebrity with more than 12 million fans on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, was banned on Saturday due to violation of the platform's relevant regulations, triggering heated discussions online.

A staff member from the Tax Bureau of Bozhou, east China's Anhui Province, revealed to Jiupai News that they had received report materials on "Xiucai," surnamed Xu, involving personal income declaration yesterday evening. The investigation is currently underway.

Previously, a 62-year-old woman from Beijing had claimed online that she had reported the Internet celebrity "Xiucai," claiming he had cheated her out of 510,000 yuan (US$70,277) over three months, using dividends as bait through online rewards and offline dividends.

"Xiucai," located in Mengcheng County in Anhui Province, has won more than 12 million fans and received 20 billion "likes" with more than 1,300 videos on Douyin. The earliest video was made in July 2020.

Most of his video scenes are in rural areas, and he combs his hair and dresses in a suit, mostly filming videos of lip-sync singing.

He is highly popular among middle-aged and elderly women with his energetic image. Data shows that more than 70 percent of his fans are female users, and nearly 80 percent of them are aged over 40 years old.

After Xiucai's account was banned, some netizens believed that "this person is not innocent."

The netizen said that in Xiucai's live broadcast room, he shouted "medical expenses, medical expenses, give me your medical expenses," suspected of inducing middle-aged and elderly viewers to give him gifts.

"Such a host should be banned as soon as possible," the netizen said.