‘She’s the rubbish’: China woman banned from social media for staging fake trash clean-up at scenic spot to boost ‘do-gooder’ image online
- Woman litters scenic pathway with plastic bottles, gets daughter to film her picking them up
- Choreographed clean-up spotted by man who confronts her for trashing image of tourist site
A woman in China has come under fire online after she was caught littering plastic bottles near a famous scenic spot so she could then film herself cleaning them up in a bid to create a “do-gooder” image online.
The woman was banned on social media after she was caught in the act at Haigeng Dam on Dianchi Lake near Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province in the southwest of the country, a spot renowned nationally for its natural beauty.
Kunming Radio reported that the woman littered a walking trail with dozens of plastic bottles on November 4. She then asked her daughter to film her picking them up.
The woman instructed her daughter, who was about 10 years old, to film for six to eight seconds.
However, a man saw them and decided to challenge the mother: “What are you doing? What do you want to say about Kunming? Why are you throwing rubbish around?”
The man, a local resident, surnamed Lin, told the media that he was angry with the woman.
“I think she was slandering tourists by suggesting that they enjoy littering. She wants to create a perception that others are uncivilised while she is civilised,” said Lin.
He also said her videos suggest that Haigeng Dam is dirty and that sanitation workers do not do their jobs properly, adding that the area is relatively clean.
She had smeared the reputation of Kunming and defiled its image, the man said.
Lin posted about the woman on Douyin, and online observers quickly identified her as a jobless single mother who has an account on the platform.
“There are many hardships in my life. My hands are injured, so I have not worked for six years. I have racked up more than 100,000 yuan (US$13,700) in debt to pay for rehabilitation,” the woman said.
“Now I live-stream on the internet and pick up plastic bottles to sell to recycling stations for pocket money,” the woman, whose name was not released, added on Douyin.
After news of her rubbish-collecting stunt went viral, the woman’s Douyin account, with 3,000 followers, was banned.
“I’ve been to Haigeng Dam several times. It is spotless, and there are many sanitation workers. The woman who fabricated the illusion that it is dirty had malicious intentions,” said one online observer.
“I think she is the rubbish,” said another.
It is not the first time false stunt videos have attracted public attention.
In August, a woman, also in Yunnan province, was held by police after she posted a video of herself posing as a food courier whose motorcycle had been stolen. Police said the woman had choreographed the video to win sympathy from internet users.
