"My parents died, so I had to drop out of school to take care of my younger siblings at home, and ate potatoes every day..." Since 2018, a young girl named "Liangshan Mengyang" has quickly become popular on the Internet, and her "tragic experience" once moved many netizens. After becoming popular, "Liangshan Mengyang" began to live broadcast frequently to sell goods, and in just a few years he became an Internet celebrity with 3.86 million fans. At the same time, some netizens questioned that the videos she posted were staged and were packaged and produced by a special team. She usually visited high-end places, wore famous watches and expensive clothes. In response, she once responded, "There is no team and no money."
However, some netizens visited the hometown of "Liangshan Mengyang" and found that her parents are still alive and the adobe house in the video was also staged. It was not until May 2023 that the Liangshan Public Security Bureau investigated the false propaganda of Internet celebrities such as "Liangshan Mengyang" and "Liangshan Aze", and the truth behind it and the gray industry chain emerged...
Red Star News reporters learned that since 2021, Tang and others have registered a company, hired Guo and others, used words and scripts to stage short videos of poor and tragic life experiences, create false characters, and package and incubate Internet celebrity anchors such as "Liangshan Mengyang" and "Liangshan Aze". Then, using the gimmick of "helping farmers", they purchased non-Liangshan agricultural and sideline products at low prices, labeled them with "Daliangshan" product attributes, and live broadcasted fake Daliangshan original ecological agricultural products. Sales exceeded 30 million yuan, and illegal profits exceeded 10 million yuan.
On March 18, a reporter from Red Star News learned from an interview that the People's Court of Zhaojue County, Liangshan recently pronounced the first instance verdict on the "Liangshan Mengyang" and "Liangshan Aze" cases. Eight people, including Tang Mou, the person in charge of the company, "Liangshan Mengyang", and "Liangshan Aze" were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from 9 months to 1 year and 2 months for false advertising. Among them, "Liangshan Mengyang" (Axi XX) was sentenced to 11 months in prison and fined 80,000 yuan; "Liangshan Aze" (A'De XX) was sentenced to 9 months in prison and fined 40,000 yuan.
▲Internet celebrity "Liangshan Mengyang"
Popular:
Working hard to create a "poor girl" character
Moved netizens to gain 3.8 million fans, but once responded that there is no team behind it
"Liangshan Mengyang", who is only in his 20s, is one of the earliest Internet celebrities in Daliangshan, Sichuan. He once had 3.86 million fans on a short video platform and became a popular Internet celebrity anchor.
Looking back at the popularity of "Liangshan Mengyang", it started around 2018. In the early days of her popularity, she relied on "selling misery" to create a tragic character, and won the sympathy of netizens with "visual poverty". In more than 500 videos released, she lives in a dilapidated adobe house, has dark skin, is thin, wears tattered clothes, and either goes up the mountain to chop firewood or works in the fields...
Red Star News reporters noticed that in a video, "Liangshan Mengyang" once said that his parents died and he had to drop out of school to take care of his younger brothers and sisters at home. They lived on potatoes. Due to financial constraints, she earned some extra income by shooting short videos... She cried and complained about her "tragic life experience" in the live broadcast room more than once, which moved countless netizens.
With the image of a "lonely girl in the mountains", "Liangshan Mengyang" instantly moved many netizens and quickly became popular and attracted a large number of fans. Later, she embarked on the road of live streaming.
▲Internet celebrity "Liangshan Mengyang" live-streamed goods in the ice and snow weather
Red Star News reporter saw that in a live video, "Liangshan Mengyang" introduced to the majority of netizens with the ice and snow as the background, "The skin of walnuts is very thin, the flesh is very thick, and it tastes very fragrant and crispy. You gave me the gift money to buy walnuts, which is equivalent to supporting me." Many uncles, aunts, and ordinary people here, do you know? "This kind of "painful" live broadcast moved many netizens and achieved good results. Walnuts, snow swallows, Fritillaria and other so-called "Daliang Mountain specialty agricultural products" were quickly sold out by netizens in the live broadcast room.
However, after it became popular, some netizens also exposed that the video of "Liangshan Mengyang" was staged for sex. After being broadcast, he went to high-end places, wore famous watches, and expensive clothes, etc., which aroused doubts. In response to this, "Liangshan Mengyang" once responded in the video: "I have never been miserable. The live broadcast is my true self and there is no team. How can I, a little girl, be rich..."
question:
Netizens visited the site and found that his parents are still alive
"Both parents are dead" fabricated the so-called adobe house and it was completely staged
At the end of 2019, a netizen named "Sanbao" paid attention to "Liangshan Mengyang", saw her story and expressed deep sympathy for her, and made a donation to her.
In 2020, "Sambo" visited Jiqu Village, Bier Town, Zhaojue County, the hometown of "Liangshan Mengyang" and found that her parents are still alive and her family lives in a government-built resettlement house. The so-called adobe house is completely staged. "The place where the video was shot is actually where local farmers raise cattle and sheep."
Local villagers said that "Liangshan Mengyang"'s parents are farmers and her family situation is not bad. "Her family has a new house in the village and a house in the county. I don't know whether her parents bought it or she bought it herself."
Some villagers told reporters that "Liangshan Mengyang" didn't read much and had gone to other provinces to work, and later came back to the village to make short videos. "In the beginning, I mainly took pictures of scenery or cattle and sheep, and it wasn't that popular until I met a boss and became a big internet celebrity."
Through interviews, "Sambo" felt cheated. She said that she had reported the misfortune of "Liangshan Mengyang"'s auction and the false persona created by the team, but was surrounded by "Liangshan Mengyang" and others. Later, she exposed her scam online and was attacked by some Internet trolls. "Liangshan Mengyang" even asked her to apologize during a live broadcast.
▲Internet celebrity "Liangshan Mengyang"
Although many netizens have questioned, "Liangshan Mengyang" still has not stopped selling goods through live broadcasts. In front of the camera, this girl from a "poor family" could not even guarantee food and clothing, but she did not take it passively. She claimed that she was busy picking local products every day, and the live broadcast was to help local villagers.
In the live broadcast room of "Liangshan Mengyang", she excitedly introduced to the majority of netizens that the agricultural products sold came from Daliang Mountain and were original ecological products, using the mountains or dilapidated houses in her hometown as the background. However, some netizens discovered that the delivery address of the agricultural products such as snow swallows and walnuts she sold was not in Liangshan. A netizen told reporters that he once questioned him in the "Liangshan Mengyang" live broadcast room about selling fake Daliangshan agricultural products and was quickly kicked out of the live broadcast room.
the truth:
Her family's financial situation is good and her life has already improved.
Law enforcement officers interviewed him many times and he was investigated for suspected false propaganda.
As time goes by, the story of "Liangshan Mengyang" has been questioned by more and more netizens, "How can it be possible that the family conditions have not improved at all despite working so hard every day? If it is really so poor? How can the local government department just sit back and do nothing? Could this be a character specially created to sell goods?"
So, what is the truth?
A reporter from Red Star News learned from the interview that the living conditions of "Liangshan Mengyang" presented in short videos and live broadcasts have long attracted great attention from Zhaojue local government departments. Investigation by law enforcement officers from relevant departments found that her family had enjoyed various preferential treatment policies provided by government departments many years ago, and their living conditions had been greatly improved.
▲Internet celebrity "Liangshan Mengyang"
"In fact, all the protection their family deserves is guaranteed, and their family's economic conditions are good." After on-site investigation, law enforcement officers discovered that the hut where "Liangshan Mengyang" lived in the short video was actually a long-abandoned farmhouse in the village. During every live broadcast, Meng Yang would put on shabby clothes and deliberately make herself unkempt, mainly to make consumers believe that she has a heavy burden in life.
In this regard, law enforcement officers from the relevant departments in Liangshan Prefecture have interviewed "Liangshan Mengyang" many times and asked him to stop posing for photos, but with poor results. "She expressed her willingness to make changes at the time, but over the course of a long period of time, her shooting style remained this way, and she gradually accumulated a large number of fans, causing many netizens to mistakenly believe that Liangshan was what she showed in her videos."
In addition to deliberately selling the products miserably, law enforcement officers also investigated and found that there were also serious problems with the products such as snow swallows and safflowers sold by "Liangshan Mengyang" in the live broadcast room. Snow swallows are mainly produced in Yunnan and Myanmar, safflowers are mainly produced in Iran, and Liangshan is not the place of origin. However, she claimed that these products were special agricultural products from Daliang Mountain, which she had purchased from the villagers through hard work.
In May 2023, the Liangshan market supervision department launched an investigation into the behavior of Internet celebrities such as "Liangshan Mengyang" selling foreign goods under the Liangshan banner. Because it was suspected of falsely promoting the place of origin and constituting a crime, the case was transferred to the public security organs for further investigation.
After receiving the clues, the Liangshan Public Security Bureau attached great importance to it and quickly set up a task force to conduct an investigation. It was discovered that the Internet celebrities "Liangshan Mengyang" and "Liangshan Aze" had falsely promoted during the live broadcast of goods. The amount involved was huge and they were suspected of crimes. As of the time of the incident, the "Liangshan Mengyang" video account had more than 3.86 million fans, and the "Liangshan Aze" video account had more than 500,000 fans.
▲Liangshan Mengyang” has more than 3.86 million fans on a short video platform
According to police investigation, the products sold by "Liangshan Mengyang" in the live broadcast room were actually bought at low prices from a wholesale market in Chengdu, Sichuan, and some were even counterfeit products. On June 12, 2023, after obtaining conclusive evidence, Liangshan police took coercive measures against "Liangshan Mengyang" in accordance with the law.
Revealed:
Behind the scenes, MCN company poses for photos to incubate internet celebrities
Hire trolls to create false impressions of popular sales and make illegal profits of over 10 million
With the in-depth investigation by the local police, a gray industrial chain of counterfeiting and counterfeiting has emerged, from front-end creation of characters and incubation of Internet celebrities, to mid-end content compilation, plot filming, e-commerce operations, to back-end supply of agricultural products, and monetization of traffic.
Further investigation by the police handling the case found that in March 2021, "Liangshan Mengyang" signed a contract to become an online anchor under a media company in Chengdu. The person in charge of the company was Tang from Pujiang County, Sichuan Province. Immediately, the police conducted verification on the company’s operating personnel.
On June 24, 2023, Tang was arrested by the police. The police found a large number of unsold agricultural products and packaging boxes in the warehouse he rented. Many of the packaging boxes had words such as "Meng Yang Selection" written on them.
▲Liangshan police arrested the suspect
The Zhaojue County Public Security Bureau filed a case and found out: Since 2021, Tang Mou, the head of a Chengdu Cultural Media Co., Ltd. (MCN organization), and others have used scripts, staged shots, etc. to incubate millions of fans on the short video platform "Internet celebrities" Asi (Liangshan Mengyang, female, 21 years old) and Ah De (Liangshan Aze, male, 21 years old).
The policeman handling the case told the Red Star News reporter that Tang and others registered a company, hired Guo and others, opened and operated stores online, and reached cooperation with "Liangshan Mengyang" and "Liangshan Aze". Since March 2021, the gang has purchased agricultural products such as snow swallows, safflowers, fritillaries, and morels at low prices from Chengdu, Kunming and other places, and sold them through online live broadcasts under the banners of "Liangshan local specialties", "helping farmers" and "original ecology".
During this period, Tang, together with Li, Guo and others, hired Internet trolls to increase fans and attract traffic on social platforms, control reviews, create the illusion of hot sales and grab orders in the live broadcast room, and live broadcast fake original ecological agricultural products from Daliang Mountain to induce consumers to buy. Sales exceeded 30 million yuan, and illegal profits exceeded 10 million yuan.
According to Tang's account, in early 2021, when he was watching short videos, he accidentally paid attention to "Liangshan Mengyang" and felt that she had great potential and was worthy of packaging. Later, he got in touch with "Liangshan Mengyang" and persuaded her to join his company. After the two parties successfully signed the contract, Tang spent a huge amount of money to hire Internet trolls to promote "Liangshan Mengyang" frequently, eventually making him an "Internet celebrity".
So, how are the profits earned divided between the two parties? "If you earn 10 million, Tang will get 5 million and Meng Yang will get 5 million. The share ratio is about 50%." The policeman handling the case told the Red Star News reporter.
Trial:
8 people sentenced for false advertising
"Liangshan Mengyang" was sentenced to 11 months, and related accounts have been banned
Based on Tang’s confession, the police launched a follow-up investigation, and a gang specializing in providing online troll services also surfaced. "Each troll gang controls hundreds or even thousands of mobile phones. They use group control software to control which Internet celebrity anchor and which live broadcast to watch on each mobile phone, and then write comments in the live broadcast room according to the written script." The policeman handling the case told the Red Star News reporter.
On September 20, 2023, Liangshan held a press conference to report a "series of false propaganda cases" involving "Liangshan Qubu", "Zhao Ling'er" and "Liangshan Mengyang" as the main representative teams. According to reports, this is also the first series of "Internet celebrity economy" chaos projects in Sichuan that the Liangshan Prefecture Public Security Bureau has cracked. A total of 54 suspects were arrested in this series of cases (including 11 Internet celebrity anchors involved), 5 online media companies suspected of false propaganda and 3 "Internet troll" companies were destroyed, and more than 1,500 virtual accounts involved in the case were seized... 1, 2023 In February, the People's Court of Zhaojue County, Liangshan Prefecture pronounced the first-instance verdict on the "Qu Bu" and "Zhao Ling'er" cases. Nine people including Zhang, Zhao (Zhao Ling'er), and Ari (Qu Bu), the legal representatives of the company involved, were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from 8 months to 3 years and 2 months.
▲Liangshan police arrested the suspect in the "series of false propaganda cases involving online celebrities' live broadcasts of goods"
Now, eight people including "Liangshan Mengyang" have also been sentenced respectively. On March 18, a Red Star News reporter learned from an interview that the Zhaojue County People's Court recently pronounced the first instance verdict on the "Liangshan Mengyang" and "Liangshan Aze" cases. A total of 8 people were sentenced for false advertising. Among them, company leader Tang Mou was sentenced to 1 year and 2 months and fined 100,000 yuan; Internet celebrity Axi (Liangshan Mengyang) was sentenced to 11 months and fined 80,000 yuan; Internet celebrity A (Liangshan Aze) was sentenced to 9 months and fined 40,000 yuan; Li, Guo, Lin and other five people were sentenced to 9 months to 1 year and fined 20,000 to 80,000 yuan. All illegal gains of the above persons will be confiscated.
According to the relevant departments of Liangshan Prefecture, Liangshan launched a special campaign to strictly rectify self-media chaos in 2023 and dealt with 457 illegal accounts, including 75 accounts involved in "false aid to farmers" and permanently closed 15 accounts such as "Liangshan Mengyang", "Zhao Ling'er" and "Qubu", including 5 accounts with more than 2 million followers.
Liangshan police said that in the next step, they will cooperate with relevant departments to continue to strictly crack down on illegal crimes related to online chaos, and actively explore the establishment of a long-term mechanism to control online chaos. In view of prominent problems such as "visual poverty" and "disastrous auctions", we will discover and combat them together, and make every effort to purify the network environment.
Red Star News reporters noticed that the short video accounts of "Liangshan Mengyang" and "Liangshan Aze" have been banned.