Chapter 60: Enjoy Banning Accounts? Weibo Hot Searches Taken Down for Rectification!

The official notice was undoubtedly the final verdict on the tax evasion scandal in the entertainment industry.

Because the situation had not fully fermented and this landmine was detonated ahead of time, it fortunately failed to cause a massive shockwave.

Just as the tax bureau’s established guiding policy went, "cure the sickness to save the patient, learn from past mistakes to avoid future ones," Zhang Hongbo was directly placed on the discredited artists list due to the massive sum involved, compounded by Xu Qingfeng’s relentless attitude.

Many people assumed that whenever negative news surfaced online, an individual would automatically be classified as a discredited artist, but that was actually not the case.

The authorities had strict procedures for identifying discredited artists; an individual had to be confirmed of having committed illegal acts, crimes, or severe moral misconduct before being listed.

Xu Qingfeng’s whistleblowing had been ongoing for a while before this procedure was completed, and it only applied to Zhang Hongbo, the primary culprit.

As for Miao Qing, the authorities let her off in accordance with the policy of curing the sickness to save the patient, while the scumbag whose crimes were exposed just these past few days hadn't even given the higher-ups time to react.

Zhang Hongbo’s endorsement contracts had long since been terminated, his pending movie roles were collectively cancelled, and his commercial performance bookings plummeted to zero. More crucially, less than two hours after the discredited artists list was published, major platforms successively took action to declare their stance, completely scrubbing all works starring Zhang Hongbo. Having debuted for seven years, he returned to being an ordinary nobody.

In an instant, Zhang Hongbo became the target of public criticism.

"Fucking asshole, making me work overtime to edit videos!"

"Such a beast! I only had two works, and now they're both gone!"

"Couldn't you have just died somewhere far away? Splattering blood all over me!"

"Make him pay damages!"

With Zhang Hongbo being blacklisted, the entertainment industry felt very little empathy. There were plenty of people gloating over his misfortune; it would be even better if his career was completely dead, as his remaining resources could just be carved up among the rest.

However, having his works pulled offline was equivalent to collective punishment. Quite a few people had been sitting quietly at home when disaster struck out of nowhere—they only had a handful of works to their names, and now all of them had been wiped out completely.

Several production companies immediately issued demand letters for compensation to Zhang Hongbo, demanding that both Zhang Hongbo and Xinghui Entertainment compensate for all losses.

The leading actors also took to Weibo to vent, some acting pitiful, some furious, and others kicking a man while he was down—what a lively spectacle.

Zhang Hongbo finally experienced what it felt like to be universally reviled. The so-called friends within the circle cut ties with him at the very first moment and joined the chorus of backstabbers.

Directors and producers who used to flatter him with smiles turned their faces faster than turning the pages of a book, stopping just short of slapping him across the face.

Seeing that Zhang Hongbo was completely beyond saving, Xinghui did not hesitate to abandon all remedial measures, ordering Zhang Hongbo to issue a public apology instead.

In the video, Zhang Hongbo’s eyes were red and swollen, tears streaming down his face. "I'm sorry everyone, I'm sorry to those who have always supported me. I was wrong!"

Then, with a heavy thud, he dropped to his knees and remained there for a long time without getting up, until the video ended.

In response, the five-star commentator Xu Qingfeng commented remotely on Shanying: "President Bo's expression is much more authentic this time! Look at that, you really have to experience it firsthand to get it. Keep it up, I have high hopes for you!"

[Pfft!]

[Stabbing him in the back yet again.]

[No complaints here, I think his acting was superb.]

[Holy shit, when that scumbag Chen gets out of prison, will he end up filming something like Prison Break?]

[This film is based on the director's firsthand experience. In case of any similarity—what, you got a problem with that, fucker?]

Many people in the entertainment industry felt immensely relieved; if not for the fact that their evaded amounts fell short, the names lying on that list right now would have been theirs.

Yet the storm in the entertainment industry did not stop there, as an even more explosive piece of news arrived.

At noon, as the public's fervor for gossip quietly faded—having spent the entire morning consuming drama, everyone was somewhat exhausted—Xiao Li was eating takeout while casually scrolling through Weibo.

He had already opened Weibo dozens of times today and was now just refreshing it out of habit.

"Holy shit!"

After another refresh, Xiao Li let out an involuntary scream.

"What's wrong?"

"Weibo has been summoned for a regulatory talk!"

Xiao Li was beside himself with excitement. He had watched the livestream last night and knew about Xu Qingfeng's exposé, but he hadn't expected the cops to move so swiftly.

One had to remember that the entity being disciplined was none other than Weibo. The word "capital" wasn't even grand enough to describe it; you had to call it a monopoly giant to match Weibo's status.

And yet, a giant like this had been completely turned inside out by Xu Qingfeng's revelations.

Cyberspace Administration of China: "Recently, following public reports, our bureau attached great importance to the matter and immediately established an investigation team to summon relevant personnel from Weibo, imposing the maximum penalty of 3 million yuan for regulatory violations."

Weibo had already exploded.

Netizens passed the news along to one another, rejoicing wildly.

"Hahahaha, serves them right!"

"Awesome! Exposed at midnight and fined by noon?!"

"Thumbs up for the Cyberspace Administration!"

"I've never seen this kind of speed before."

"What the heck, could someone at the Cyberspace Administration have been watching the livestream too?"

"Too funny, are all government departments gathering in God Feng's livestream room to handle cases now?"

"The staff must be cursing up a storm, having to work overtime in the middle of the night. What miserable suffering."

People online were cursing Weibo, telling it to go bankrupt sooner rather than later. Hot search topics were popping up one after another; however, to the surprise of netizens, these trending searches were actually not being scrubbed.

At that moment, an insider leaked: "Scrub my ass! The investigation team is literally at Weibo's headquarters right now—go ahead and try to scrub one?"

"They asked for it, hahahaha."

"Isn't the fine way too small? Only three million, who are you looking down on!"

"Is it possible that the legal maximum is just three million?"

Netizens were very satisfied with the Cyberspace Administration's actions, but utterly dissatisfied with the fine amount.

Three million wasn't even enough to cover half a day's worth of hot search revenue for Weibo. How was this any different from no punishment at all?

"Fining oneself three cups of wine—equivalent to half a day's wages deducted."

"On the day Weibo finally goes bankrupt, do not forget to report the victory to your ancestors in your family sacrifices."

"Calling upon the five-star commentator, God Feng!"

Xu Qingfeng actually replied, "Repeatedly offending despite being punished, incorrigible. A penalty of 3 million yuan cannot even scratch the surface. I lodge a formal protest against this punitive result."

As the whistleblower, Xu Qingfeng was entirely qualified to voice his dissatisfaction.

Whenever he got banned, it was automatically for three days, or sometimes straight for a year. Fining Weibo 3 million yuan—who was this theatrical display meant for?

This kind of punishment would only make Weibo even more unscrupulous.

As soon as Xu Qingfeng spoke up, netizens responded in droves, eagerly expressing their opinions on the matter.

Consequently, a massive "Anti-Weibo" campaign erupted, with over a million people voicing their intense dissatisfaction with the three million yuan fine.

Weibo Headquarters.

Liu Fusheng was so furious that smoke was practically coming out of his seven orifices, his teeth nearly crushed to dust. "Dog bastard, he's actually still unhappy!"

"Report Shanying immediately!"

"Weiguang, Qudong—one by one, report them all!"

"Step up the efforts to hunt down Xu Qingfeng!"

Weibo's counterattack was no slouch either. In less than an hour, all sorts of messy documents and accusations were delivered straight to the Cyberspace Administration.

Back when Du Yuesheng was being investigated, this was the exact tactic he used to thoroughly muddy the waters.

Only by muddying these waters could Weibo manage to escape scot-free.

However, the situation did not seem to be developing according to Weibo's expectations.

An hour later, Xu Qingfeng received a call from the Cyberspace Administration. After soliciting his opinion, additional punitive measures were slapped onto the company.

At 2:00 PM, the Cyberspace Administration updated its notice: "In view of Weibo's poor management and artificial manipulation of trending searches, Weibo's Hot Search list and topic sections will be taken offline for one week."

This time, netizens finally felt satisfied. Being taken offline for a week meant Weibo would lose at least tens of millions; this punishment could certainly be considered heavy.

"Hahaha, beautifully done!"

"Still too light. God Feng gets muted for three days just for saying a few words, and eventually got hit with a year-long ban."

"They should take it offline for a whole year, only then would it be fair."

"A year? Holy shit, you really want Weibo dead, don't you!"