China cracks down on ‘fan culture’ during the Olympics, arresting a woman for social media posts WSB-TV Channel 2 [Video]

BEIJING — (AP) — A Chinese woman has been detained for allegedly slandering others on social media in a crackdown on what Chinese authorities see as harmful negativity during the Olympics from super-zealous fans and online fan clubs.

Beijing police said in statement issued late Tuesday that they had arrested the 29-year-old suspect after receiving tips from the public that some people had made defamatory posts about athletes and coaches after a closely watched women’s table tennis final on Saturday.

Both finalists were Chinese, and table tennis is the national sport. Heated comments on social media, echoed to a degree by a partisan crowd in Paris that favored one of the competitors, sparked a backlash in China. At least three major social media platforms deleted or otherwise restricted thousands of posts and comments and suspended the accounts of hundreds of users. Several state media criticized the outbursts in articles headlined, …