Over the last week, China’s government has been cracking down on elements of the entertainment industry. All of it is part of President Xi Jinping’s call for a “national rejuvenation” with broader and tighter control over many facets of Chinese society. As CNN reports, there have been an array of things going on with regards to pop culture, including the “erasure” of “misbehaving celebrities” by wiping their biographies and movies from the Chinese internet and streaming platforms. The National Radio And TV Administration also said broadcasters must “resolutely put an end to sissy men and other abnormal esthetics” on TV. And there have been sweeping comments about people’s relationship with celebrity altogether, with the Cyberspace Administration Of China announcing measures against the “chaos” of celebrity fan clubs.

As a result, K-Pop stan communities have been hit by crackdowns. The Chinese social media platform Weibo banned over 20 fan accounts for 30 days. Many of them were stan accounts for members of K-Pop groups like NCT and Blackpink. But one of the big ones was banning a BTS fan account for 60 days, after the account supposedly raised funds illegally to celebrate the birthday of BTS member Jimin.

Starting back in April, the fan club started raising funds to mark Jimin’s 26th birthday. They raised over $360,000 in the first hour, and eventually that gave them enough money to customize a plane from Jeju Air with an image of Jimin. This garnered some criticism, and recently the fan account asked its followers to be “rational.” When Weibo banned the account it issued a statement: “Weibo firmly opposes such irrational star-chasing behavior and will deal with it seriously.” You can see photos of the plane below.

https://twitter.com/JIMINBAR_CHINA/status/1432950201010982914