Thread by @WilliamYang120

"What Li and his fans didn't know at the time was that the sweet, creamy tank-like ice cream cake had triggered #Beijing's special censorship system tailored for the 1989 Tiananmen Square anniversary on June 4." abc.net.au/news/2022-06-1…

"Now all of Li's fans are waiting to see if he re-emerges later tonight.

He is scheduled to appear in one of the three annual big e-commerce sales in China on June 18."

"Austin Li earned himself the nickname "the Lipstick King" after he broke live stream records by selling 15,000 lipsticks in five minutes."

"His sales prowess made him a big star for Taobao, an Amazon-like online shopping platform owned by Alibaba that allows people to buy everything from household gadgets to cosmetics."

"Li made his debut the same year that Alibaba launched its live streaming platform, Taobao Live.

The service encourages shoppers to buy while watching influencers spruiking the products during live streams."

"The e-commerce live streaming platform has also become a lifesaver for China's private tutoring sector.

The government cracked down on the industry last year to ease financial pressure on parents."

Dr Samuel Kwok, an associate professor in online luxury brand management at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, said Li bridged the gap between e-commerce giants, brands and ordinary internet users.

He said Li's success was also the result of the growing power of young educated women who can afford entry-level luxury brands, and are willing to spend money on themselves.

""[Li] is very successful in targeting the mass [audience], particularly the ladies from late-20s to 40-something," said Professor Kwok.

Li was also aware of his fan base."

"Li's skyrocketing popularity and his reputation as a hardworking businessman soon attracted attention from the ruling CCP.

Authorities, who denounced the growing trend of "lying flat" among young people amid intense work pressures last year, admired his work ethic."

"While his name could still be searched on China's social media, the photo of him holding the tank-like cake has been censored on Weibo, China's largest social media platform.

Several hashtags related to Li were also limited during the week of June 4."

@EricLiu_USA said the censorship that Li experienced is a "normal reaction" from the platform over the 1989 Tiananmen protests.

"There is a very strict censorship system especially about Tiananmen protests," said Mr Liu.

"Firstly, if you post something that can be related to Tiananmen, such as a candle emoji between the night of June 3 and June 5, the post will be removed, and your account will be suspended."

Some Chinese activists also try to use a random number combination that could indicate "8964" — the date of Tiananmen Square massacre, to avoid censorship.

But Mr Liu said even if the platforms fail to understand the meaning of such a post, they would still censor it and suspend the account to avoid any slips through the net.

According to Mr Liu, most platforms still rely on manual censors, supported by algorithms, to track down the sensitive words or images.

He said up to one month prior to June 4, censors would not be allowed to take any annual or sick leave, while their weekends would be shortened.