Communist youth arm runs online poll on 'how to punish pro-Occupy HK celebrities'
More than 270,000 people in China have backed a suggestion to impose sanctions against Hong Kong celebrities who voice support for pro-democracy protests in the city.
More than 270,000 social media users in mainland China, voting in an online poll by the Communist Party’s youth arm, backed a suggestion to impose sanctions against Hong Kong celebrities who voiced support for pro-democracy protests in the city.
The Communist Youth League of China (CYLC) started a poll on its official Weibo account at 1pm on Tuesday, asking microbloggers how they would like to “sanction unscrupulous celebrities" who "blatantly supported the illegal Occupy Central protests”.
The survey was criticised for not giving respondents the option of opposing any sanctions. Instead, it gives four choices of punishment for the celebrities, ranging from banning them from work to launching boycotts.
The poll – which allows users to cast a vote only once – will close in a week.
Some 77,000 people (more than 30 per cent) said they wanted the stars to be restricted from working in films and have their work banned from being broadcast in the mainland.
Some 23 per cent favoured boycotting their films and songs.