APP teen mode is easily cracked

　　Anti-addiction, youth network "firewall" is not hard enough

　　Our reporter Yang Lun

　　Improving the age-appropriate prompting standard for games and further improving the anti-addiction system for games will help parents grown up under the radio and television system and young people grown up in the Internet age live in harmony and find appropriate education and communication methods.

　　Exquisite and delicate game screens, endless levels of design, hilarious hilarious videos ... Even adults, there are not a few people who are addicted to online entertainment, let alone minor children.

　　In recent years, the news that teenagers are addicted to the Internet, rewarding anchors, or replenishing games to spend their family's deposits has been frequently reported in the news, which is distressing. Before June 1st Children's Day last year, almost all mainstream short video and online video playback platforms in China launched the "Youth Anti-Indulgence System", and the youth model was listed on the "Hot List" for a time.

　　However, this "firewall" aimed at blocking minors' addiction to the Internet does not seem to play its due role in reality and is in an awkward situation. The report issued by the Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Commission clearly pointed out that some of the live broadcast platforms have no difference between the youth mode and the general mode, and are virtually useless; other spot-checked platforms can extend the time limit for using the software in the youth mode by entering passwords and other means, and two more The live broadcast platform stated in the recharge agreement that the platform does not assume any responsibility for the use of recharge services by minor users.

　　"Magic High" has another way to bypass the youth model

　　The original intention of the online youth model is to prevent minors from indulging in the Internet, and put an end to the security risks and social problems brought about by this. Not only in China, the youth model in 2019 is a hot spot globally. According to British media reports, the country ’s new network regulations stipulate that minors under the age of 18 will not be able to like favorite posts on several major social media.

　　According to public reports, the youth model of China's video platforms mainly restricts the daily duration and use period, prohibits rewarding and recharging, and can only watch videos that conform to the aesthetics of teenagers.

　　But nearly a year after going online, the teen model unexpectedly caught fire with another set of keywords: how to bypass the teen model. Just enter the keywords of the website + bypass youth mode on the search engine, the specific operation method and process are clear at a glance. Take a short video platform as an example, after entering the youth mode of the platform, the system prompts that you can only use 40 minutes a day, and you cannot use the same city, like and other functions. The list of recommended videos also includes popular science, classical literature, art teaching, etc. Mainly, functions such as rewards and recharges are not available.

　　The seemingly perfect teen mode, but the solution is very simple: delete the APP and download again. The reporter immediately deleted and reinstalled according to the methods mentioned in the retrieved materials, and indeed bypassed the youth mode easily, and could still watch all videos and live content normally.

　　Cracking "strategies" like this are everywhere on the Internet. It is also easy to bypass the anti-addiction and identity authentication mechanism of the game company. "The identity authentication of a game company is generally completed by an identity authentication service provider, but the problem is that many companies have no way to judge whether the mobile phone is in the hands of a minor or a parent." Senior game engineer Zhang Tongjiang said, "If the child holds the parent's mobile phone, use Third-party software can easily bypass the anti-addiction system by logging into the game. "

　　Sun Jiashan, an associate researcher at the China Academy of Art, said that since "post-95", a new generation of teenagers have grown up in the Internet environment, and "post-05" has grown almost entirely in the context of mobile Internet media. "Aboriginal people" in the Internet era. Because of this, the “indigenous people” often have a better understanding of the online media than their parents imagine, and they can make full use of their media culture experience to bypass the limitations of the youth model.

　　Layers of failure and poor control have brought painful lessons

　　Compared with the positive response of various platforms when the youth model was launched last year, some platforms now seem to have less restrictive restrictions on the youth model.

　　Take a video website as an example. The website's APP requires a four-digit password set in advance to remove the youth mode, but there is no limit to the number of passwords entered. Therefore, some people directly announced the cracking method on the Internet: using scripts, key wizards and other tools to directly perform brute force cracking in accordance with the four-digit password sorting, the fastest way to remove the restrictions of the youth mode is only a few tens of minutes.

　　In terms of registration and login methods, the 9 games under investigation can be logged in through third-party accounts and other operations, which may bypass real-name authentication. At the same time, the green light on the above three points is a common practice for many live broadcast platforms.

　　"At the beginning of the implementation of the youth model, we were concerned about this." Tian Feng, a researcher at the Institute of Social Development Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Sci-Tech Daily. Tian Feng believes that there are several major problems with the youth model. The first is unclear definition. "Children aged 6, 9, and 14 are all teenagers, but they have very different needs for video and Internet content."

　　Judging from the existing youth model, the content provided by many video platforms is quite limited, or the content is too young, or the number of videos is limited. On the one hand, what content should be read by young people and what should not be read is currently lacking a corresponding definition. "

　　Secondly, individual companies are perfunctory about the youth model, and barely going online is just a matter of coping. "Some companies attach importance to the conditions and thresholds are set stricter; some do not pay attention, then the platform's youth model is likely to be formal." Tian Feng said.

　　The lessons of identity verification and the limitations of the youth model are painful. Especially this year, affected by the epidemic, the vast majority of children use their mobile phones, tablets and other devices to go online at home. A long time of surfing the Internet and living at home have also spawned a large number of minors who play games to recharge, watch live news and complaints.

　　Similar cases are not uncommon: a 12-year-old girl from Yunnan Province placed an order to reward the anchor for his generous efforts, and instantly spent his father ’s hard-earned money; an 11-year-old boy in Henan, in order to play online games and reward anchor, within 11 days It cost my father 200,000 yuan for surgery ...

　　According to statistics, in the first quarter of this year, the Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Commission accepted 425 complaints about online games for minors, an increase of 460% compared with the same period of last year; Consumption disputes on recharge through live broadcasting reached 4,472.

　　Multi-pronged approach to build a "firewall" at home and outside

　　How can the teen model work better? The Consumer Protection Committee of Jiangsu Province made recommendations in the report. First, companies must strictly abide by the "Notice on Preventing Minors from Addicting to Online Games" on November 1, 2019. The "Notice" stipulates the implementation of a real-name registration system for online game user accounts.

　　In addition, any registered user must enable face recognition before recharging the game or paying for consumption. Only when the registered user information matches the face recognition can they enter the game recharge or payment consumption program.

　　Preventing young people from indulging in the Internet is a systematic project, and the youth model is only one of the means. "To prevent addiction to games, family education is also a key factor." Tian Feng said. Schools should also rely on the front position, take the initiative to play a role, set up related courses to help children understand and use the Internet correctly.

　　Sun Jiashan also said that parents' position in family education is irreplaceable. “Many parents may objectively lack understanding and adaptability to the mobile Internet; or subjectively avoid, burnout, fail to fulfill the obligations of the guardian, and take responsibility. Preventing youth indulgence requires multiple factors and more painstaking efforts, only by the company. No. "

　　In Sun Jiashan's view, perfecting the age-appropriate prompting standard for games and further improving the anti-addiction system for games can help parents who grew up under the radio and television system and young people who grew up in the Internet age get along harmoniously and find suitable education and communication methods. Strengthening the online protection of minors and promoting the healthy, orderly and sustainable development of China's game industry is becoming the consensus of the whole society, looking forward to the consensus of officials, industry, academia and research from all walks of life to find the best way to manage online games.