The Chinese social media (SNS) accounts of Koo Jun-yeob's ex-wife, Taiwanese actress late Hsu Shih-yuan, were permanently suspended after her death for spreading false information and profiting from it through a 'live broadcast' by her former husband and mother-in-law.
According to Taiwanese and Chinese media on 8th (local time), Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, permanently suspended the accounts of her ex-husband, Chinese businessman Wang Xiaofei, and her former mother-in-law, businesswoman Zhang Lan.
Douyin stated that "the actions of Wang Xiaofei and Zhang Lan disrupted public order and violated social norms and moral standards. They spread false information without respect for the deceased and the family." It added that "their actions elicited strong backlash from the public," noting that "Chinese netizens expressed their condolences over Hsu's sudden death and urged respect for the deceased."
On the 5th, when Koo Jun-yeob and Hsu's family returned to Taiwan with her remains, Zhang Lan mentioned Hsu's death during a live commerce broadcast. This broadcast attracted 9.3 million viewers, with a peak of 286,000 concurrent viewers. Zhang earned over 1 million yuan (approximately 199 million won) from this broadcast.
Douyin emphasized that it will strengthen measures against all types of rights violations and sensational false information, and will operate online communities responsibly. Chinese netizens reacted by saying, "The internet must not become a lawless zone," and expressed hope that "Zhang Lan and Wang Xiaofei will no longer profit from the deceased's reputation."
Weibo, the Chinese version of X (formerly Twitter), also suspended Zhang Lan's live funeral broadcast. Weibo stated that "the account owner was confirmed to be blocked for spreading false information on other platforms."
Rumors spread on platforms like Weibo that Wang Xiaofei paid for the charter plane expenses to move Hsu's remains. Hsu's sister, broadcaster Hsu Shih-ting, stated through her agency, "All funeral procedures were carried out directly by our family and my husband. I cannot understand why such lies are spreading." She expressed strong displeasure, saying, "Especially with my sister (Hsu Shih-yuan) looking down from the heavens, should such unbearable rumors continue to spread?"