SHANGHAI (SCMP): China’s former gymnastics champion Wu Liufang, who caused controversy for releasing provocative dances and whose Douyin account was suspended briefly in November has been banned again.
Wu, 30, received a gag order and was suspended from using the platform on December 24 for violating its rules and policies. It is not clear how long the latest ban will last.
Her fan base shrunk from 7 million to 44,000 because the social media platform deemed that 6 million users became new followers of Wu in the period between the two bans because they were attracted by her “line-breaching activities”, the Qianjiang Evening News reported.
The platform’s vice president, Li Liang, said on social media: “There are many disputes over the judgment and treatment of an athlete. We must follow state rules, regulations and guidelines and we must implement them well.”
Wu’s previous videos, described by many as provocative, saw Wu wearing sexy dresses and dancing seductively on camera, drew wide attention and criticism.
At the end of November, Wu’s Douyin account was suspended for breaching online community rules after Guan Chenchen, an Olympic gymnastics champion, publicly rebuked her and the two exchanged sarcastic comments.
A week later, Wu’s account was reinstated, with her followers rising tremendously from 44,000 to about 7 million in a few days.
Many people rallied around Wu out of the empathy because she is from the grass-roots population who worked hard to make a living.
Wu, from the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region in southwestern China, was once a member of the Chinese Women’s Gymnastics Team and celebrated as the “balance beam princess” for her multiple world championship victories in the disciplined.
A fall during the Olympic trials in May 2012 injured her a neck, preventing her from competing in the London Olympics of the same year and abruptly ending her gymnastics career.
She then tried various jobs, including teaching and coaching gymnastics at a sports school in eastern Zhejiang province. She said she was often left in an awkward situation because her employers defaulted on her wages.
Wu began her live-streaming career in 2019 in Hangzhou in the eastern province of Zhejiang, with a base salary of just 3,000 yuan (US$410) a month for streaming six hours a day.
Only seven video clips remained on Wu’s Douyin account at the time of writing. Each video has attracted a huge number of likes, from 350,000 to 2.1 million, the Post found.
The latest developments sparked a flurry of comments online, with mainland netizens divided over the situation.
“Can you tell me which specific rule Wu has violated? While other people can, why can Wu not do it?” asked one outraged online observers.
“What has she done wrong? What she does is just for survival,” said another supporter.
But another person was fine with the ban: “As a former athlete of the national team, it is not appropriate for her to perform sexy dances.” - South China Morning Post
