TVB Denies Forcing Artists to Surrender Personal Social Media Accounts

On the morning of April 8, Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) issued a statement to clarify recent media reports regarding the social media collaboration arrangements with its artists. The company emphasized that it has always respected the personal privacy, legal rights, and professional development needs of its artists, and has consistently handled administrative and operational matters related to artist collaborations in accordance with existing laws, regulations, and established internal procedures.

TVB pointed out that certain reports inaccurately described the company's social media collaboration arrangements with artists as a mandatory requirement for all artists to hand over their personal social media accounts for centralized management. The company stated that such claims do not accurately reflect the actual situation. Communication between TVB and its artists regarding social media matters primarily involves program promotion, content collaboration, advertising partnerships, and related operational arrangements, all conducted on the basis of legality, compliance, and mutual respect.

In the statement, Leanne Yi-Ling Loke, Assistant General Manager (Artist Management and Development) of TVB, commented, "The communication between the company and artists mainly involves work-level discussions on social media collaboration methods. We hope to clarify misunderstandings arising from certain reports."

Recent market rumors suggested that TVB had demanded its artists provide account credentials for major social media platforms to allow centralized management by the company, sparking discussions among netizens. It was also reported that this move was part of TVB's newly established "Artist Creator Network" (ACN) business strategy, aimed at preventing artists' online behavior from affecting the mainland China market and causing public relations crises. According to the rumors, artists would be required to surrender their social media accounts not only during their contract period with TVB but also for one year after the contract ends, to protect the company's investments and efforts.