Editors of television programmes streamed on China’s Netflix-like iQiyi site appear to be blurring the earlobes of male actors with earrings, according to web users in the country.

Doctored images of male actors on a show called Sisters Flower Shop alongside earlier footage where they were sporting earrings have been posted online. In another show, I, Actor, the earlobes of the actor and singer Jǐng Bórán also appear to have been edited.

Screenshot image appears to show Jǐng Bórán in I Actor with his earring blurred. Photograph: Weibo

A public relations officer at iQiyi told the website Sixth Tone that the company “hadn’t received any instruction from the relevant department” to edit footage of earrings worn by men.

Earrings are common among male Chinese pop stars, actors and TV hosts. Two of China’s best-known male pop stars, Kris Wu and Lu Han, who are former members of the Chinese-Korean boy band EXO, typically wear earrings.

Over the past year, masculinity has become a subject of public debate. Some people have criticised popular Asian culture for encouraging effeminate standards of beauty for men. A 2018 article published by the state news agency Xinhua said China’s pop idols were spawning a generation of “sissy boys”.

Stars sporting their earrings. Actor Jǐng Bórán (left) and singer Wang Linkai, aka Xiao Gui (right), of the boy group Nine Percent. Composite: VCG/Getty Images

Web users criticised the blurred-out earrings, and thousands have commented on social media under the “MaleTVStarsCantWearEarrings” hashtag. One user said: “The whole world is moving forward, while China is moving backward.”Another said: “Do earrings impede the core values of socialism?”

“China holds up these slogans of prosperity, democracy, freedom, equality … and yet people don’t even have the right to choose what they wear. What a shame,” another commenter said.

Over the past year, Chinese platforms have increasingly begun to censor their content, as authorities crack down on “vulgar” material. Officials closed own 26,000 “illegal” websites and deleted 6 million posts last year, according to Xinhua.

Earlier this month, regulators released a list of 100 types of video content that short-form video platforms should erase, including any material that promoted “non-mainstream views of love and marriage”.