Behind the vulgar chaos of live streaming: Several platforms have been named multiple times, and scholars suggest improving the disciplinary mechanism

In early May, the National Internet Information Office announced that in response to serious ecological issues such as pornography and vulgarity on the Douyu platform, the National Internet Information Office guided the Hubei Provincial Internet Information Office to dispatch a working group to stationed on the Douyu platform for a month long centralized rectification supervision.The working group has been stationed for more than half a month, and reporters from Nandu have measured multiple live streaming platforms and found that the phenomenon of "edge scraping" in live streaming rooms still exists

In early May, the National Internet Information Office announced that in response to serious ecological issues such as pornography and vulgarity on the Douyu platform, the National Internet Information Office guided the Hubei Provincial Internet Information Office to dispatch a working group to stationed on the Douyu platform for a month long centralized rectification supervision.

The working group has been stationed for more than half a month, and reporters from Nandu have measured multiple live streaming platforms and found that the phenomenon of "edge scraping" in live streaming rooms still exists. After reporting the relevant situation to customer service, the reporter from Nandu received a response stating that "regarding the violations you reported, we have already provided feedback to a dedicated person for further verification. If there are any violations, they will be dealt with according to the platform rules after verification." However, no further feedback has been received.

Du Jiang, an associate professor at the School of Civil and Commercial Law at Southwest University of Political Science and Law, analyzed and pointed out to reporters in Nandu that the repeated prohibition of "soft pornography" behavior has multiple reasons. To prevent such phenomena, it is necessary to establish a sound disciplinary mechanism, including access mechanism, blacklist mechanism, integrity margin system, platform exit system, and increased punishment.

Actual measurement: Live streaming on multiple platforms still shows "edge scraping" behavior

On May 8th, the National Internet Information Office guided the Hubei Provincial Internet Information Office to send a working group to the Douyu platform to carry out a one month centralized rectification supervision in response to serious ecological issues such as pornography and vulgarity.

The next day, Douyu announced on its official website that it will actively cooperate with the centralized rectification and supervision of the Hubei Provincial Internet Information Office working group, conscientiously carry out self inspection and self correction work in accordance with regulatory requirements, further optimize the platform content review mechanism, and comprehensively and thoroughly clean up bad information and content.

Nandu reporter learned that as early as March, # Douyu official promotion of soft pornographic performances # and # Douyu dance area # had already made it on the hot search. The relevant content points out that when entering the Douyu platform late at night, many female anchors in the live broadcast rooms are dressed in revealing clothing, accompanied by provocative language, waist twisting, buttocks twisting, chest shaking, and other highly suggestive actions, in order to attract attention and motivate users to reward. In addition to anchors with behavior and behavior that "brush the edges", the platform will also push such live broadcasts to newly registered users.

The working group has been stationed on Douyu rectification supervision for over half a month. Recently, a reporter from Nandu entered the Douyu platform after 23:00 and found that some female anchors still wore "cool" clothes and danced in the mirror. In other chat style live broadcasts, some users also made explicit comments in the comment section.

Nandu reporters observed that on platforms such as Huajiao live streaming and YY, there were also "edge scraping" behaviors during live streaming. In multiple live broadcast rooms, female anchors appeared wearing waist up suspenders and shorts, twisting their bodies to the music, and occasionally standing up to the camera, demanding rewards. As long as the audience in the live broadcast room gives gifts, they can make requests for dancing, singing, etc. to the anchor, and the anchor will also use the excuse of "giving gifts can make requests" to encourage the audience to give gifts. Give me a 'necklace' and I'll change your pants. '' You can send me a 'romantic date' instead of reading private messages. '

Female anchor of the pepper live streaming platform.

On another platform, a host adopts a multiplayer interactive mode for live streaming, where two teams compete and the loser will be punished. The punishment content is generally proposed by the victorious party and takes various forms, including kneeling, shaking legs, and other behaviors. During the interaction process, in order to win the PK victory, the female anchor will engage in behaviors such as twisting her waist and caressing her chest, in order to receive more rewards. Some users commented on the live streaming page of the anchor that they were "undressing" and "wearing too much".

The staff of the illegal and inappropriate information reporting hotline displayed on the official website of the platform told reporters from Nandu, "If users discover pornographic and vulgar behavior during the live broadcast of the host, they can report it. It will be difficult to report afterwards, "we don't understand their business here," he said. The staff member stated that after receiving the reported information, the platform "usually processes it within about two hours". The next day after the reporter from Nandu reported the situation on the anchor page mentioned above, the anchor continued to live as usual.

Nandu reporters found that many live streaming rooms will display prompts such as "promoting green live streaming", "strictly prohibiting content related to terrorism, pornography, etc.", and "the platform will conduct 24-hour inspections". Nandu reporters consulted with live streaming platforms about such situations and found that the reporting methods of each platform have similarities and differences. Overall, users need to submit screenshots or videos reflecting their violation behavior, the ID account of the anchor, and describe the reasons, timing, and events they believe the violation occurred. Additionally, feedback from the platform has a certain time difference.

In response, the Douyu platform has set up automatic responses to questions such as "How to use room VIP?" and "Does the ban on live streaming rooms have an impact on revenue?" It also stated that if feedback or complaints are needed, a message feedback is required, and the platform stated that it will handle them within 24 hours. After receiving relevant feedback, the platform replied within 24 hours that "regarding the violations you have reported, we have provided feedback to a dedicated person for further verification. If there are any violations, they will be dealt with according to the platform's rules after verification." However, no further feedback has been provided.

YY platform customer service told Nandu reporters, "If users discover violations, they can report them on their own. After the platform receives the reported information, community workers will determine whether there is a violation based on the "YY Anchor Violation Management Method". If it is true, the staff will send a penalty notice to the anchor and limit the anchor to adjust the live broadcast content; If the anchor does not make corrections, the community will impose a second penalty.

Platform: Some profits have declined and have been named multiple times

After experiencing the savage growth of online live streaming, with the implementation of new live streaming regulations and the influence of other internal and external factors, the platform format has gradually changed.

Taking Douyu as an example, the official website of the platform shows that Douyu has taken advantage of the rapid development of online live streaming to occupy a leading position in the game live streaming industry and continuously expand its live streaming business; In July 2019, Douyu Live was officially listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. According to the Douyu financial report, the net profits for 2021 and 2022 were -400 million yuan and -7.6 million yuan respectively.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, the net revenue of the other app mentioned above was 2.8658 billion yuan, compared to 2.891 billion yuan in the third quarter of the same year. The operating profit of its app in the third quarter of 2022 was 569.4 million yuan, compared to 676.5 million yuan in the same period the previous year. In the third quarter of 2022, the number of paid users on the platform was 8.4 million, a decrease of 200000 compared to the second quarter.

Some platforms have also been successfully launched. At the end of last year, after three shocks to the Hong Kong stock market, Huafang Group, which owns platforms such as Huajiao Live and Liujianfang, went public in Hong Kong. According to the prospectus, Huajiao live streaming supported most of Huafang Group's revenue. From 2019 to 2021, Huajiao live streaming revenue accounted for 76.5%, 76.3%, and 70.7% of the total revenue, respectively. In terms of business modules, over 90% of the revenue generated by Huafang Group comes from the audio and video live streaming business.

At the same time, violations on the platform have also sparked widespread discussion.

The other platform mentioned above was fined by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism in September 2020. After remote inspection by law enforcement personnel, it was found that there were luring dances and other suspected vulgar online live performances on the platform.

Huafang Group's core platform, Huajiao Live, has also attracted attention due to its extreme fan attraction model and dissemination of vulgar content. According to the prospectus, during the performance record period, 33 of its anchors were included in the online live streaming anchor warning list released by the China Performance Industry Association due to improper display of content, of which 25 anchors were included in the warning list due to their suggestive performance and language. In addition, the Flower House Group was fined by government departments for displaying inappropriate content on the platform for 9 reasons, with a total amount of approximately RMB 100000.

According to previous reports from Nandu, in November 2017, Wu Yongning, known as the "first person in the high-altitude challenge" in China, fell and died while challenging extreme sports, sparking attention and condemnation of "live streaming with blood". After Wu Yongning's death, his family, He, sued multiple online platforms where Wu Yongning had previously posted videos.

In the case against the operator of "Huajiao Live", Mi Jing He Feng Company, the first instance court held that in the nearly four months between Wu Yongning's registration of the Huajiao platform account and his downfall, he successively uploaded over a hundred dangerous action videos on the Huajiao Live platform, and the platform did not handle any related actions. This is an indulgence or even affirmation of Wu Yongning's dangerous activities. Therefore, the platform failed to fulfill its security obligations and assumed secondary and minor responsibility for the death of Wu Yongning. The court ruled in the first instance that Confidential Environment and Wind Company compensated He with 30000 yuan. On November 22, 2019, the second instance verdict of the case was upheld.

On February 15th of this year, the Intermediate People's Court of Chengdu held a press conference and announced the top ten typical cases of 2022. Among them, the Douyu anchor's "Send Nine Outdoor" live streaming case of opening a casino was listed as the first nationwide gambling case involving live streaming platforms supervised and handled by the Ministry of Public Security. It is reported that Fu Moulong and others are members of the Douyu live streaming platform's "Send Nine Outdoor" account. During the period from March 2017 to September 2020, they repeatedly used a large number of inflammatory language to encourage the audience in the live streaming room to participate in the lottery by paying for "cards" and swiping virtual gifts. As of the time of being blocked, Fu Moulong and others organized a total of 4267 lucky draws (times), with over 4.42 million people participating and a gambling capital of nearly 120 million yuan.

On February 26th, in the 2022 inventory of the "Anti Pornographic and Anti Illegal Activities" released by the National Cyberspace Administration, platforms such as Douyu and Huajiao were also named. The Cyberspace Administration stated that the above-mentioned platforms had harmful and harmful information issues such as spreading pornography, vulgar and vulgar content, violent abuse, and inducing rewards, and were subject to interviews, rectification within a specified period of time, strict punishment of relevant responsible persons, fines, and other punishment in accordance with the law.

Viewpoint: A sound disciplinary mechanism should be established

The deployment of the internet information department in Douyu has attracted attention from all parties.

Du Jiangyong, an associate professor at the School of Civil and Commercial Law at Southwest University of Political Science and Law, told reporters in Nandu that "settling in" means that the unit being settled has problems that cannot be self checked and corrected, and needs to rely on external forces to supervise and solve. That is to say, the pornographic and vulgar issues within the Douyu platform have reached a serious level, and it is necessary to conduct more in-depth inspections of the platform in addition to interviews and administrative penalties to better solve the problems.

In fact, cyberspace is not an "out of law place", and China has successively introduced multiple policy regulations to address the potential chaos of online live streaming. Nandu reporters noticed that as early as November 2016, the National Cyberspace Administration issued the "Regulations on the Management of Internet Live Broadcasting Services", which clarified the main responsibilities that internet live broadcasting service providers should implement. In February 2021, seven departments including the National Cyberspace Administration jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Strengthening the Standardized Management of Online Live Broadcasting", which also clearly stipulated the comprehensive cleaning up of vulgar, feudal superstitions, and illegal and harmful information such as playing the "edge ball". In June 2022, the State Administration of Radio and Television and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism jointly issued the "Code of Conduct for Network Broadcasters", which stipulates that network broadcasters shall not display content with sexual hints or provocations, such as clothing, makeup, language behavior, live broadcast room scenery, etc. during the provision of online performances and audio-visual program services.

Based on relevant policies and regulations, regulatory authorities have repeatedly dealt heavy blows to illegal and irregular phenomena, but live streaming chaos has always been prohibited. To investigate the reasons, Du Jiang pointed out to reporters from Nandu that firstly, the entry threshold for live streaming is too low. Currently, live streaming platforms do not have qualification requirements for practitioners, nor do they have entry requirements for the anchor team, and there is a mixture of good and bad anchors within the platform; Secondly, the punishment is too lenient and lacks deterrence. Some broadcasters can switch to a "vest" to continue making mistakes after their accounts are banned and their live streaming rooms are closed; Thirdly, the lack of initiative and timeliness in the supervision of the platform and regulatory authorities; Fourthly, in the fiercely competitive live streaming market environment, live streaming platforms only focus on pursuing benefits while neglecting the social nature of the platform.

Du Jiangyong said, "There is no chaos that cannot be managed, only a mind that is unwilling to manage." He believes that a sound punishment mechanism should be established to address the chaos of live streaming platforms. Firstly, establish an admission mechanism, where broadcasters and teams need to undergo training, study, and sign an industry self-discipline commitment letter before they can enter the platform; Secondly, it is necessary to establish a blacklist mechanism, where platform anchors or users who violate regulations or laws will be immediately blacklisted, or even banned for life; The third is to establish an integrity margin system, where paying the margin can not only raise the threshold for entry, but also truly make the punished feel "pain" during punishment, promoting the recurrence of similar mistakes in the future; The fourth is to establish a platform exit mechanism. If the platform is found to have violated regulations for a certain number of times within a certain period of time, it can be required to suspend business for rectification. If the standards are not met for several consecutive times, the platform will be directly closed; Finally, the punishment should be increased, and any behavior that violates the criminal law will be strictly punished.

Interviewer: Intern Huang Yu, He Yintao, Southern Capital Reporter Ji Shi

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