Chinanews client, Beijing, September 29 (Reporter Xie Yiguan) In recent years, the online game industry has developed rapidly, and consumer complaints brought about by it have been increasing.
On the 29th, the “Report on Major Complaints of Online Game Consumers” released by the China Consumers Association showed that current online game consumer complaints mainly focus on infringements on consumer choice and property rights, frequent pornographic, violent, and gambling issues, and minors People's protection mechanism is not perfect, mobile game APP excessive claims, etc.
Violation of consumer choice and property rights
According to the China Consumers Association, infringement of consumers' right to choose and property rights is mainly reflected in five major aspects: First, unauthorized modification of the attributes of sold online game products.
Some online game operators, without the consent of consumers, arbitrarily modify the image of characters, game props and their functions, special effects, etc. that have been sold in the name of optimization and upgrade of game products, and use the “consumer summary” in the service agreement. The “authorization” clause exempts related responsibilities.
The second is that online games stop serving and delete files to deal with recharge and other issues across the board.
Specifically: After the company’s own service is suspended, the consumer’s game account is transferred to another platform or game or the virtual property of other games is used to offset the payment. Even if the consumer does not accept it, the relevant recharge will not be refunded; violation of relevant regulations will be related After the department investigated and dealt with the suspension, only part of the amount was refunded.
The third is the lack of a tiered punishment mechanism for online game accounts, and the channels for appeal and relief are not smooth.
Some online game companies permanently suspend accounts with minor violations, and the recharged property in the account cannot be taken out, causing consumer property losses.
At the same time, when the account is mistakenly blocked or punished, consumers are required to provide relevant evidence before they can file an effective complaint. In addition, some game companies' customer service processing efficiency is low, making it difficult to remedy.
Fourth, there is more chaos in fees.
Some paid online games use "free trial play" to induce minors to "enter the pit". After the minors try for free for a period of time, the game no longer provides free services, and the game can only be continued by recharging.
Another example is that online game operators fail to give clear explanations on the automatic renewal business in privileged services, VIP and other recharge items. The automatic renewal option is selected by default, and the “non-automatic renewal option” is not set, causing consumers to be unknowingly In case of deduction.
Fifth, excessive barriers are set up to stimulate consumption.
In order to stimulate consumption, some online game operators set up unreasonable obstacles in the game, and give inductive or wrong tips to induce consumers to over-consume.
Consumers can only recharge or even recharge to continue the game.
Online games involving pornography, violence and gambling frequently occur
On the one hand, it is reflected in the unhealthy content of online games, cultural and creative content.
For example, an online game uses the slogan of "Training teenagers' three-dimensional thinking, developing imagination and cognitive ability", so the players are mostly teenagers.
But there are actually pornographic and pornographic inducing information.
"Although the game company made rectifications after it was exposed, it still did not block pornographic maps. Some maps still have pornographic text on the message boards, and some maps even match windows, chairs and other props to cater to some pornographic content." Called.
On the other hand, it is reflected in the bad cultural atmosphere in online games.
Negative online game cultures such as insults, feudal superstitions, and "Zuan culture" among the player groups are common.
On December 18, 2019, representatives of a number of game companies jointly issued the "Declaration on the Protection of Minors in China's Game Industry".
Photo by Hong Jianpeng
Prevent minors from indulging in online games
The report pointed out that in online games, real-name authentication is still not in place.
Mainly reflected in: some online games can log in directly by default using a mobile phone number without real-name again; some games can easily log in through other APP accounts; minors can register and log in with the identity information of their adult relatives and friends ; Some games can still be used after closing the pop-up "real name system" prompt box.
"In reality, since real-name authentication has not been implemented, and effective measures have not been taken in the charging link to restrict the payment of minors, disputes about minors over top-up frequently occur."
For example, minor Li XX (14 years old) uses his grandmother's valid identity information to register a game account and operate a game on his mobile phone.
Due to the loopholes in the real-name authentication system of the game, the minor registered and logged in with the identity information of his adult relatives and friends, causing the minor to purchase game equipment and spend from February to May 2020 without the parents knowing it. The amount is 8688 yuan.
At the same time, some online game operators lack the motivation to implement anti-addiction measures, and the anti-addiction system also has loopholes.
On the one hand, cracking the youth mode is very simple, just enter the website + keywords to bypass the youth mode on the search engine, and you can easily crack it according to the specific method.
On the other hand, over-reliance on third-party identity authentication platforms, online game operators fail to conduct substantive identity verification of players who log in with third-party accounts to provide space for minors to log in to games with adult accounts.
The report also mentioned that some online games parental guardianship mechanisms are also missing.
Some game product official websites do not see relevant information prompting parental guardianship services, or even if relevant information is available, parental guardianship services are not actually provided.
Mobile game APP excessively asks for permissions
According to a coordinated investigation by China Consumer Electronics, some online games are suspected of excessively requesting user rights, which is clearly beyond the reasonable range.
In the actual experience process, most mobile game software requires user authorization and information permissions related to game configuration and functions during installation or startup, such as location information, device identification code, memory card reading/modification/deleting, recording audio and video, Calling SMS/Phone functions, etc.
The personal information required for authorization for individual tested mobile game software is not obviously related to the product functions that consumers usually understand, and even obviously beyond the reasonable range, such as obtaining "device call records" and "read calendar" permissions.
According to the report, in addition to the above-mentioned problems, online games still have problems such as inconsistency between game promotion and actual experience, lack of the function of permanent cancellation (deleting) of game accounts, and difficulty in issuing proof of property losses after account theft, which damages consumers' legitimate rights and interests.
In the next step, the China Consumers Association will closely cooperate with relevant regulatory authorities and industry associations, continue to pay attention to the improvement of online game related issues and consumer demands, and take further effective measures to strengthen online game consumption supervision and protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
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