Chao News client reporter Yu Xuan, Li Muzi, intern Yan Wenyao
Recently, the General Administration of Sports of the People's Republic of China said at the National Sports Publicity and Culture Work Conference that the national sports system will resolutely resist the erosion of the deformed "fan circle culture" in the sports field throughout the whole process.
At the meeting, the General Administration of Sports of the People's Republic of China emphasized that the chaos of the "fan circle" is extremely detrimental to the healthy physical and mental growth of athletes, the ability of sports teams to win glory for the country, and the sustainable development of sports. Sports should not and should not be allowed to become a "lead" and "hotbed" for the deformed "fan circle culture" to continue to breed.
In recent years, with the vigorous development of sports in China, more and more sports and outstanding athletes have been sought after by spectators and fans, but some irrational star-chasing behaviors have also been bred and intensified. With the 2024 Paris Olympics approaching, it is urgent to rectify the chaos of "rice circles" in the sports field.
Athletes have been harassed by the "fan circle" for a long time
On May 14, the national table tennis team announced the list of athletes for the Paris Olympics, among which Sun Yingsha and Chen Meng were shortlisted for the women's singles list. Chen Meng's selection and Wang Manyu's defeat have become the focus of heated discussions, and a large number of Wang Manyu fans expressed dissatisfaction, and even rose to the level of cyberviolence against Chen Meng, and the comment area of Chen Meng's social account was full of ridicule and abuse.
The Chao News reporter found that the chaos of the "rice circle" that happened to Chen Meng was not an exception. In recent years, "proxy auctions", follow-up auctions and other "fan circles" that infringe on personal privacy have continued to infringe on the sports circle, and many athletes have been disturbed and publicly called for a boycott of this phenomenon.
On the evening of March 25, 2024, table tennis player Fan Zhendong posted on his personal social account that his ID number was maliciously spread and spread rumors on the Internet by some criminals, and even used his ID number to find his mobile phone number and harass and abuse his family. On April 6, 2023, Fan Zhendong also called the police because a woman had illegally trespassed into his hotel room several times.
Source: Screenshot of Fan Zhendong's social platform
Previously, the video of table tennis player Wang Chuqin angrily scolding and following at the airport has attracted attention. Afterwards, he publicly responded: "I hope everyone can respect each other's privacy, keep their distance, and give me some private space to breathe." ”
Women's basketball player Yang Shuyu also posted a refusal to pick up fans, refused fans to squat on the undisclosed training itinerary and asked for autographs, "I don't want to get my personal information and itinerary from illegal channels, I think it's terrifying." ”
In fact, as early as September 2021, the Chinese Olympic Committee issued a statement, calling on all sectors of society to respect the personal rights and interests of athletes, rationally chase stars, avoid inappropriate words and deeds, resolutely put an end to the spread of the chaos of "fan circles" to the sports field, and resolutely oppose the use of "fan circles" to engage in profit-making activities. On November 27, 2023, the official website of the Chinese Olympic Committee and the official website of the General Administration of Sports of China released an article "Resolutely Resist the Chaos of the "Fan Circle" and Focus on the Overall Situation of the Cause".
Since April 23, Weibo has launched a three-month special action of "Ecological Governance of Sports Rice Circle". Approaching the Paris Olympics, He Xiao, the leader of the national table tennis team, said that he would resolutely resist the negative impact of external interference such as the "fan circle" culture.
The deformed "fan circle culture" is "disturbance", not "love"
"The underlying logic of the deformed 'fan circle culture' is that fans fantasize about establishing a virtual relationship with their idols, and the strong emotions brought about by this gradually deepening virtual relationship will squeeze the idols themselves." Shi Xiang, editor-in-chief of "E-sports" magazine and director of the E-sports Communication Professional Committee of the China Science and Technology News Society, analyzed that some fans are fanatical about this fantasy and action of virtual relationships because of their own lack of cultural life, lack of aesthetic education and aesthetic ability, and excessive social pressure.
Wang Chuqin boycotted the "proxy auction". Source: Weibo @王Chuqin_HOPE's hydrogen balloon workshop
As for the invasion of "fan circle culture" into the sports world, Shi Xiang believes that this is the impact of the transformation of media forms. "In the past, only groups such as artists and singers who appeared on the screen for a long time could have a virtual relationship with the audience. But now, as long as the image that has been exposed to the Internet for a long time and has strong personal characteristics, it may become the object of invasion by the 'fan circle culture'. Not just athletes, but also entrepreneurs, even giant pandas. ”
According to a survey of 1,332 respondents conducted by the Social Survey Center of China Youth Daily and the questionnaire network, 82.4% of the respondents felt that the phenomenon of "fan circle" in sports has become serious recently. In Shi Xiang's view, behind the intensification of this phenomenon, there are often more hidden promoters who attempt to copy the gray industrial chain of the "rice circle" in the entertainment industry. "Transactions on online platforms and comparisons between fans have exacerbated this situation that has existed since the 90s. Proxy auctions and water armies are gray industries that extend by using the emotions under the virtual relationship. ”
Shi Xiang mentioned that the bad habit of "fan circle" is not as simple as the public imagines, not only has a division of labor but also has a certain threshold, and makes profits in various forms such as "proxy auctions" and selling "peripheral products". "I've seen a lot of 'proxy auctions' at the gate of the Sports General Training Bureau of Tiantan East Road in Beijing, which is actually a very hard job, and there is even collaboration between the 'proxy auctions' hired by different athlete fans, who share the captured photos with each other to better complete the task and sell at a better price."
Shi Xiang said that the "fan circle culture" is actually not applicable to the sports circle, and may even bring serious consequences, "The 'fan circle culture' is based on traffic first, which is easy to cause comparison and confrontation, which has an essential conflict with sportsmanship." "At the same time, competitive sports is a profession that requires a very high level of mental health, and athletes are also vulnerable to performance if their daily lives are overly intruded by fans.
What's more serious is that the deep-seated problem of fan circle culture is aggression and exclusivity, and fans will wantonly attack imaginary enemies instead of their idols. "This kind of behavior is completely negative if it spreads in the world of sports."
The vice of "fan circle" may face legal risks
Sports' rejection of "fan circles" is not a rejection of love and support for athletes, but a rejection of privacy concessions, excessive disruption and interference with competitions, and opposition to profit-driven, over-amplified information hype, as well as those industrial chains designed to specifically incite emotions.
In fact, some deformed "rice circle" behaviors may have stepped on the legal red line. Wang Yiyun, a lawyer at Zhejiang Lunhe Law Firm, pointed out that fans entering the athletes' residences without permission may face administrative detention if they violate public security regulations. If the circumstances are serious, the crime of trespass may be suspected. "Whoever illegally searches another person's body or home, or illegally trespasses into another person's home, is to be sentenced to up to three years imprisonment or short-term detention."
"Wantonly abusing and ridiculing athletes, or even spreading rumors on the Internet, may involve infringing on athletes' rights to name, portrait, reputation, honor, etc." Wang Yiyun said that the use of violence or other methods on the Internet to openly demean the personality of athletes and damage their reputation is suspected of the crime of insult, and the case should be filed if the circumstances are serious; Those suspected of defamation shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, public surveillance or deprivation of political rights. "When the infringer encounters the infringement of the 'fan circle', he can report to the relevant departments in a timely manner," and protect his rights and interests through civil litigation, and if the circumstances are serious, he can also seek help from the public security organs. ”
In addition, the "proxy auction" and peripheral product trading industry chain driven by the "fan circle culture" will also involve infringement if you are not careful.
"The biggest legal risk of 'proxy shooting' is the infringement of athletes' portrait rights, privacy rights, reputation rights and other rights, and athletes are forced to be exposed to the 'proxy shooting' camera at all times, losing their right to freedom of normal life." Wang Yiyun pointed out, "If you entrust others to auction the privacy of celebrities, not only the behavior of the agent violates the privacy of others, but also the behavior of the client also constitutes a privacy infringement." At the same time, regardless of whether it is for profit or not, as long as the use of another person's portrait without the permission of the portrait rights holder constitutes an infringement of the portrait right, and the client's actions may also infringe the portrait rights of others. ”
Wang Yiyun believes that the rectification of the chaos of the "fan circle" requires relevant departments to strengthen positive guidance, standardize the operation of the "fan circle", increase the crackdown on illegal acts of the "fan circle", consolidate the supervision responsibility of the platform, and strengthen the publicity of online law popularization.
However, in Shi Xiang's view, in addition to relying on blockage, the eradication of "fan circle culture" should also be sparse, "Only by improving the public's aesthetic education and having more and better cultural products can we truly reduce the situation where fans 'objectify' people into 'cultural products' and chase virtual relationships." ”
"Please indicate the source for reprinting"