An influencer in China who fabricated a story about delivering food with his baby daughter to portray himself as a single father has been arrested. According to the South China Morning Post, the man operated under the handle @qianyibaobei on the Chinese social media platform Douyin and has over 400,000 followers. In the videos, he claimed to a be single father to a baby girl, whom he brought along while working as a delivery rider. He also claimed that the mother of the toddler had abandoned her.
The man amassed thousands of followers on social media by producing more than 100 sympathetic videos. He profited from live-streaming sales, all under the guise of supporting his daughter's livelihood, the SCMP reported.
In one of the videos, the man stated that he delivered 43 orders alongside his daughter and earned 300 yuan ($40) in a single day so he could buy her nice food. He also urged his followers to like his videos, revealing that he had accidentally injured his daughter's face while working.
Earlier this month, the cops said that the man had misrepresented his background. He is neither a delivery worker nor a single father. The police also reported that the baby girl's mother still "lives happily" with them.
According to the police, the man has been penalised for disturbing public order. He faces up to 10 days of detention and a 500-yuan ($70) fine.
Also Read | AI Firm Sued After Its Chatbot Suggested It's Okay For A Child To Kill Parents
Meanwhile, this is not the first time an influencer lied about their impoverished life. Earlier this year, content creator @Liangshanmengyang was sentenced to 11 months in jail and fined 8,000 yuan for lying about her impoverished life.
According to the SCMP, the influencer claimed to care for her siblings and survive on potatoes all day after their parents died. It later emerged that the village home that featured in the woman's videos was actually a shelter for goats and cattle and her parents were still alive. Moreover, she was found to have worn luxury clothing and jewellery outside her live-streams.
During an investigation, China police also uncovered a multichannel network company that fostered such accounts. The company's owner sold fake agricultural products through these accounts. He was sentenced to 14 months in prison and fined 100,000 yuan ($14,000).
