Governing social eating (chibo) influencers: Policies, approach and politics of influencer governance in China

Abstract

AbstractUsing the governance of social eating (chibo) influencers as a case study, this article demonstrates the policies, practices, discourses, and politics of China's state‐centric model of influencer governance. We argue that influencers in China are in a relatively precarious position due to various regulations and restrictions imposed upon them by the state, platforms, and industry associations. They are frequently targeted in China's internet governance campaigns “for a more sanitary internet” and coerced to participate in social governance “for the creation of a better socialist society.” They are therefore vulnerable within China's state‐controlled digital economy, caught between risks and opportunities this governance affords. Their position in this governance regime has consequently enabled their creativity, flexibility, and resilience to “play on the edge” of recurring platform crackdowns and capricious government policies to survive in the ever‐changing influencer industry. The coevolution of regulatory policies and focuses, and the shifting performativity of influencers, also makes China's influencer culture fast evolving and the governance itself more complex than elsewhere.