Former police star opts for a quieter beat
Controversy led to career change and a chance to reflect on the price of fame, Wang Qian reports.
After announcing his resignation from the police force on April 8 on social media, Chen Guoping has been back in his hometown, Qinglong, in Hebei province, trying to maintain a distance from the internet, where he has hit the heights of fame, and, just months later, the depths of defamation.
“I didn’t regret my resignation, because it is difficult to live under the microscope,’’ Chen says, adding that, for now, he wants to take a rest. In the long run, he plans to be a short-video creator, but did not divulge further details.
“Whatever I say and do may result in a negative influence, even trouble, for the police. Although it is a tough decision, taking off the uniform, I am just an ordinary man.”
The 45-year-old used to be a police officer on the anti-fraud task force in Qinhuangdao, Hebei. He became famous for his sense of humor during livestreams on short-video platform Douyin last year, while trying to show netizens how to avoid online fraud. He describes himself as “an anti-fraud livestreamer”.
He was usually dressed in uniform, and would often show up unexpectedly during popular livestreams to ask his catchphrase question — “Have you downloaded the National Anti-Fraud Center app?”, which has since become a popular meme. Hosts would never expect to encounter a real police officer during livestreaming and sometimes the results were hilarious.
But skyrocketing to fame in September and attracting a large fan base came at a cost.
There were countless negative comments and questions about whether civil servants should receive virtual gifts on social media. On Douyin, the official account of the Haigang Anti-Fraud Center, previously mainly run by Chen, currently has about 5.5 million followers and his personal account has 652,000.
“From the first day livestreaming, I was prepared for criticism, but when things got out of control, I really felt the pressure, which was too heavy to bear,” Chen says.
The breaking point came on March 27. During a livestreaming session with other influencers on Douyin, Chen got 333 jianianhua (carnival), the most expensive virtual gift on the platform, from a user named Jiandan. One such gift costs 3,000 yuan ($458.7), according to Douyin, and 333 equal nearly 1 million yuan.
The present is just a symbol, but the money is real. Although Chen said during the livestream that he would donate the money and did so later, actually displaying the donation certificate, many people questioned Chen about it and his police identity. Some reported the situation to the local public security bureau.
“The more I explained, the more questions came up. It felt like being trapped in a loop which would never end,” Chen says with a sigh. For him, resignation seemed to be the answer.
On microblogging platform Sina Weibo, his resignation has been viewed about 140 million times. Some users say they respect his decision, while others say they feel it is a pity.
One Weibo user named Moli who supports Chen’s decision comments: “Proud of you. As an ordinary man, you can keep on helping those people in need.” Another named Koukou says that Chen will regret his resignation, because it was his identity as a police officer that made him a celebrity.
Some question the reason behind his resignation. One Weibo user named Yuwowuguan says that it is all about money, noting that a livestreamer earns much more than a policeman.
“No matter what people think, I will keep on doing what I think is right and enjoy the moment,” Chen responds.
Dedicated to duty
As a child, Chen wanted to be a policeman. After serving in the military for 10 years in Northwest China, he joined the police in Qinhuangdao in 2006.
During his 16 years as a policeman, Chen experienced some lifethreatening moments in the line of duty. Once, during a high-speed pursuit, Chen’s police car crashed into a drug dealer’s vehicle to stop it getting away.
“It was my job, and is not worth mentioning,” the former policeman says.
Due to the surge in cyber fraud and scam cases, in 2017, three police officers, including Chen, joined the newly established Haigang District Anti-Fraud Center. That year, police cracked 131,000 cases of telecom fraud and detained 53,000 suspects across the country. Last year, the number climbed to 441,000 cases and 690,000 suspects, according to data from the Ministry of Public Security.
“When a woman of my mother’s age knelt down in front of me, begging for help to get her money back, it broke my heart and I wanted to do something,” Chen says.
In 2018, he started to create antifraud video clips in his spare time. The first one was based on a real case about how a private campus loan scam trapped students in college.
Between 2018 and 2019, Chen and his team created more than 20 video clips introducing the dangers of online scams.
“I enjoyed shooting those videos, but there was no budget from the center. Livestreaming just needs a smartphone and can reach more people,” Chen says, adding that he began livestreaming on short-video platforms, like Douyin and Kuaishou, in September 2020.
As of August 2020, Douyin had more than 600 million daily active users, with an average of 33 hours per capita browsing a month. By the end of 2020, Kuaishou had more than 264 million daily active users.
In Chen’s eyes, online platforms are more effective than traditional methods in disseminating antifraud knowledge, such as distributing pamphlets and visiting communities to explain related laws.
At first, Chen tried giving his usual anti-fraud lectures online, which didn’t get him many followers. He began to study other livestreamers to learn how they hosted and managed their audience in livestreaming rooms. His efforts paid off in September, when he conducted a lianmai (connected mic) with a funny streamer, which went viral immediately. Lianmai is a popular function where two livestreamers are randomly paired and talk on one screen to viewers of both, which helps promote both channels.
On Sept 3, he livestreamed for six hours on Douyin and Kuaishou, which has been viewed more than 120 million times, according to reports.
Chen’s videos are reported to be part of a new, proliferating genre of police-influencer content, deployed to improve the anti-fraud app’s appeal.
“When I became an overnight viral sensation on Sept 3, I knew there would be different voices, like criticism and questions, but I didn’t expect there to be so many jianpanxia (keyboard warriors), whose words were totally irresponsible,” Chen says.
“It is time that we should reflect on the challenges brought by public opinion on social media,” he says.
According to the China Internet Network Information Center, the number of internet users in China had reached 1.03 billion by December last year. On one hand, the internet helps the authorities understand real public opinion, while on the other, there is a surge in cyber defamation.
Chinese law stipulates that insults resulting in serious humiliation constitute a crime.
Since 2019, procuratorial organs around the country have approved the arrest of 168 people suspected of the crimes of insult and libel, according to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
For Chen, there is still a long way to go.