In China, Bragging About Your Wealth Can Get You Censored #炫 | TomBen’s Web Excursions

In China, Bragging About Your Wealth Can Get You Censored #炫富

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.

Douyin, the video platform, said this year that it had closed about 4,000 accounts in two months, including ones that posted videos of people “scattering renminbi.” Xiaohongshu, an Instagram-like lifestyle app, announced last month that it had flagged nearly 9,000 wealth-flaunting posts from May to October.

Inequality in China is vast. One percent of Chinese own 31 percent of the country’s wealth, according to Credit Suisse Research Institute. The coronavirus pandemic further exposed disparities, as the rich returned to luxury spending while other Chinese continued to struggle.

But the campaign against wealth flaunting, with its focus on tamping down the trappings of wealth — not the wealth itself — underscores a broader question about how far Mr. Xi’s rhetoric will go. Despite his sweeping power, Mr. Xi has yet to embrace tactics that could prove unpopular with the middle class or elites, many of whom have links to the party. Policies such as property and inheritance taxes have long stalled, and labor rights remain weak.