CCTV criticized the chaos of live broadcast rewards and tested the "youth mode" of short video platforms. Who is just dealing with it?

On May 16, CCTV reported on the various irregularities in online live broadcasting rewards. On live broadcasting platforms, there are a large number of anchors who guide viewers to make large recharges, which has a particularly serious impact on young people. In recent years, news of minors secretly making huge rewards is not uncommon. In addition to causing huge economic losses to families, this trend of getting something for nothing will also have a negative impact on young people's values.

In response to the phenomenon of minors giving rewards, the state has also issued a variety of policies and required relevant platforms to implement them. What specific measures have each platform used? Can they effectively reduce the occurrence of teenagers giving rewards? In order to verify this, we selected Douyin, Kuaishou, Bilibili and WeChat Video Account, four short video platforms with the largest number of users, for testing.

First of all, if the youth mode is turned on, the live broadcast cannot be watched on the four platforms, so there is no possibility of rewarding, and the payment function is also turned off. However, the video account has obvious hidden dangers and loopholes.

Whether launching the app or entering the "Video Account" section, there is no pop-up window prompt on WeChat. You need to enter the WeChat settings interface to manually enable it. WeChat's youth mode is hidden deep, making the potential risk of teenagers rewarding and spending higher than on other platforms. However, Douyin, Kuaishou, and Bilibili open the youth mode pop-up window when they are first launched every day, which is very eye-catching.

In the case where minors make payments or rewards without turning on the youth mode, Douyin and Kuaishou have also prepared special refund channels for minors' rewards. After providing transaction and identity information, they can apply for a refund.

Station B does not have a dedicated refund channel. After asking the customer service, they said that all transactions must be deducted through the transaction password and no refund service is provided. However, netizens have asked and learned that if they can provide transaction, identity proof and proof of absence of a third party, they can apply for a refund.

The transfer function can still be used in WeChat youth mode. If a minor accidentally adds a scammer, there is still a risk of being deceived.

In general, both Douyin and Kuaishou have reserved refund channels for minors who make erroneous top-ups, while Bilibili uses a secondary password to prevent erroneous top-ups. WeChat Video Account is a little more complicated, but unless a child adds a stranger as a friend and transfers money, the funds are relatively safe in most cases. However, it should be noted that if this happens, or if the child makes a purchase when the parents forget to turn on the youth mode, there is no effective refund measure.

After testing the reward function, we became interested in the overall operation of the youth mode of the four platforms, so we decided to continue to compare in depth the efforts made by the four platforms to protect young people.

Turn off the youth mode: Use the secondary password for the three platforms and the login password for WeChat

Because the youth mode has many restrictions on content, many minors will try to turn it off. Douyin, Kuaishou, and Bilibili all need to set a four-digit secondary password to turn on and off the youth mode. The passwords for Bilibili and Kuaishou are one-time and can be changed each time they are turned on, while Douyin has a fixed password but can be changed in the settings interface. The secondary password increases the reliability of the youth mode and is not easy to crack.

WeChat requires a login password to be verified to enable the youth mode. Although the WeChat login password is often more complicated than four digits, if it is mastered by a child, the youth mode can be easily turned off, making it ineffective.

Reset password: Douyin, Kuaishou, and Bilibili require real-person authentication, WeChat can be retrieved via SMS

When it comes to resetting the youth mode password, both Douyin and Kuaishou provide a reset entrance and require users to undergo real-name verification or facial recognition.

The left side shows the face recognition of Douyin, and the right side shows the real-name authentication of Kuaishou

Station B requires users to take a photo of their ID card and submit a complaint by email to reset their password.

WeChat can directly reset the login password via text message to disable youth mode, which has a large loophole.

Content filtering: Tik Tok, Kuaishou, and Bilibili have targeted content, while WeChat relies on parental settings

After turning on the youth mode, we need to look at the control of content on each platform. The youth modes of Douyin, Kuaishou and Bilibili have specially selected a batch of content for viewing, covering education, knowledge, cartoons suitable for children, etc., and turned off the live broadcast function. All three platforms have also added time locks. Kuaishou and Bilibili can be used for a maximum of 40 minutes per day, while Douyin can be controlled by parents within 40-120 minutes.

Douyin also has the function of pushing content by age groups, which is more targeted.

WeChat Video Account, on the other hand, relies more on parental supervision. Parents need to decide what content can be viewed in Youth Mode, including "My Followed", "Inaccessible" and "All". If "All" is selected, the Youth Mode is completely useless. If "My Followed" is selected, parents need to control whether the content they follow is suitable for their children to watch. Video Account does not have a live broadcast function. Live broadcast is classified in the "Live and Nearby" section, which cannot be enabled in Youth Mode. However, it should be noted that WeChat does not have a time lock function.

In general, the four platforms have made efforts to filter content, but the video accounts do not impose restrictions on usage time. At the same time, there are some shortcomings in the screening of content, which are either too loose or too one-size-fits-all, and lack content specifically for teenagers.

Video accounts with more than 300 million daily active users still need to fulfill more social responsibilities

After testing, it can be seen that Douyin, Kuaishou and Bilibili all have relatively complete anti-addiction measures, while WeChat has many loopholes.

The first is the lack of a prominent youth mode reminder. Strictly speaking, the video account does not have a youth mode, which is a loophole it exploits as an embedded function in WeChat. Hupu, which is also an embedded live broadcast function in the App, has done a good job. As a sports forum App, users will not see the youth mode reminder when they open Hupu, but there will still be a pop-up window after entering the live broadcast section, which is worth learning from WeChat.

As a platform, WeChat should also fulfill its regulatory responsibilities. After entering the youth mode, the video account's content screening is also obviously insufficient, and it is basically completely dependent on parents. At the same time, the lack of a time lock function also makes the youth mode completely ineffective in preventing addiction.

Finally, the method of disabling the youth mode on the video account is also the most vulnerable among the four platforms. Teenagers who are familiar with electronic products can easily disable it. Therefore, WeChat should also add a secondary password to enable the youth mode to make it work better.

On May 28, 2019, the Cyberspace Administration of China coordinated 14 short video platforms and 4 online video platforms to launch a unified "Youth Anti-Addiction System". It has been online for almost two years, but the youth mode of the video account is still quite lacking, which reflects the inaction of the platform. As a supporting user group of short video platforms, teenagers have good consumption power and can naturally bring considerable benefits to the platform. However, as an enterprise, it cannot only focus on economic interests, but also bear corresponding social responsibilities.

According to the 47th "Statistical Report on the Development of China's Internet", by the end of 2020, the number of short video users in China had exceeded 873 million, and 71.5% of respondents felt addicted to watching short videos. Minors lack self-control, so anti-addiction measures for short video platforms are particularly important.

According to reports, the daily active users of WeChat Video Account have reached 350 million, making it another leader in the domestic short video field. It is for this reason that WeChat has an obligation to strengthen supervision and protect the physical and mental health of young people. I believe that with WeChat's technical strength, it will not be unable to create an effective "youth mode".

This year, regulatory authorities have paid more attention to the physical and mental health of young people. The newly revised "Minor Protection Law" will also come into effect on June 1 this year, clearly stipulating that online live broadcast service providers should set up corresponding time management, authority management, consumption management and other functions for minors using their services. WeChat's youth mode, which is used to deal with errands, should also make some adjustments.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.