China kicks top influencer off social media for fabricating viral story of boys lost homework [Video]

Chinese authorities have shut down the social media accounts of a top influencer for fabricating the viral story of a boy’s missing homework in Paris.

Sina Weibo, WeChat and Douyin accounts of Thurman Maoyibei, 29, were removed after a police investigation found that she had fabricated the story.

The influencer, whose surname police said was Xu, had a combined following of 30 million on various Chinese platforms.

Ms Xu posted a video on 16 February claiming that a waiter at a coffee shop in Paris handed her two holiday workbooks that belonged to a student named Quin Lang. She then jumped on the mission to return the books to the grade 1 boy in China.

The video quickly went viral in China and sparked the search for the boy, with hashtags such as “Grade 1 Class 8 Qin Lang” getting …