Four live broadcast apps, four video apps, and two social apps. Our reporter tested 10 apps "Youth Mode"
. Can "Youth Mode" protect minors?
Nearing June 1st, the protection of minors has become a hot issue of public concern.
In recent years, with the rise of short videos and live broadcasts, content such as pornography and violence can cause minor psychological problems, to induce rewards, recharge and other problems frequently.
In response to this, the Cyberspace Administration of China urged all apps to launch the "Youth Protection Model", but does this model really play its due role?
In this regard, a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily tested popular apps.
test
Half of the tested App youth mode
It's not easy to find after "missing"
A reporter from Beijing Youth Daily tested 4 short-video live streaming apps, including Douyin, Kuaishou, Huya, and Douyu, which are currently more frequently used, and 4 video apps such as Tencent Video, Bilibili, iQiyi, and Youku Video.
There are also two social apps, WeChat and Weibo.
These apps all have a "youth mode" and a "pop-up prompt" when the app is first launched.
However, the two social apps that were tested on WeChat and Weibo did not show a pop-up window when they were launched in the tested version.
According to the notifications of the above apps, most of its youth protection mode restricts the use time, disables it at night, prohibits rewards or recharges, and some apps also prohibit watching live broadcasts or can only watch fixed sections of content.
The above-mentioned apps that can enter the "Youth Mode" through the first startup page, if you miss to start the "pop-up window", most users want to enter this mode after using the app for a period of time, they must find the app that enables this mode Button.
Through the test, a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily noticed that only 4 apps including bilibili, Youku video, Kuaishou, and Douyin have clearly indicated the “youth mode” switch option in the “user page”, while other apps need to enter the user interface to find “settings” "Option, and then find the button to turn on this mode from "Settings".
In addition, a reporter from Beiqing Daily also noticed that the "Settings" buttons of some apps are relatively hidden. For example, the "Settings" buttons of Douyu and Huya are icons without Chinese logos, while other options are icons with Chinese names. People who don't use the "Settings" feature often are almost hard to find.
Question one
"Youth Mode"
Weibo can "curve" to chase stars
Will apps that use the "youth mode" avoid inappropriate videos, recharge, and rewards for minors?
The Beijing Youth Daily reporter also conducted a test.
After turning on the "Youth Mode", Douyu and Huya can only watch fixed video programs.
During the test period, the Douyu platform only had 11 short videos to watch, most of which were public welfare live classrooms. Although the Huya platform has four optional columns, there are only more than 30 short videos to watch overall, most of which are documentary clips and life tips. And popular science.
Douyin and Kuaishou have relatively more short videos, but they focus on popular science, news, science and education.
None of the above four platforms can display funds-related interfaces such as recharge and rewards in the "teenage mode", and the live broadcast cannot be watched.
On video apps such as bilibili, Tencent Video, Youku Video, and iQiyi, most of the programs that can be watched in the "Youth Mode" are animations and some popular science videos of the younger age group. Live broadcasts are not available, and there is no option to involve funds.
However, on social apps, the “protection” of the “youth mode” is not as strict as the above apps.
On Weibo, although after entering the "youth mode", there is no function that involves funds. However, Weibo is usually used by young people to chase stars. A reporter from Beijing Youth Daily found that in the "youth mode", search is not possible. You can directly search the celebrity’s own Weibo, but you can also search for relevant celebrities’ news content.
Click on its "@明星", you can still enter the star's own Weibo and browse its content.
Users can also use this method to enter the celebrity "hit list", "chaohua" and other sections.
However, some sections are "invisible" in the "Youth Mode".
Previously, on WeChat, even in the "youth mode", some of the video accounts, official accounts and mini programs that have been followed can continue to be browsed and used.
A reporter from the Beijing Youth Daily found that in this mode, it is also possible to complete small program shopping, read or watch some official accounts and video accounts suitable for adults.
Not only that, on the WeChat payment platform, as long as you know the payment password, you can still use the payment and collection function in the "teenage mode".
In addition, the payment interface also has functions such as "micro-loan loan", "mobile phone recharge", and "Q coin recharge" are available.
According to the introduction of Baidu Encyclopedia, Q Coin is a virtual currency launched by Tencent, which can be used to pay for QQ's QQ line number, QQ membership service and other services.
At 17:00 on May 27th, a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily logged into the WeChat "Youth Mode" again and found that the payment interface had changed.
From the original 4 sub-projects in the financial management sector, only one item remains "financial insurance".
The original "Credit Card Repayment", "Micro Loan Borrowing Money", and "Li Caitong" are no longer displayed.
In the life service section, "Q coin recharge" is no longer displayed.
Question two
WeChat, Huya, Douyu
Turn off the "youth mode" password reset threshold is low
In order to increase the effectiveness of the "Youth Mode", it will not be easily turned off by teenagers. In addition to WeChat, all 9 apps tested have set a secondary password to activate and deactivate the "Youth Mode".
However, because the teen mode has many restrictions on the content, many minors will also try to turn it off.
A reporter from the Beijing Youth Daily found that in addition to the "vulnerabilities" in the "youth mode" functions on some apps, the secondary password that turns off this mode on some apps is not "secure."
Among them, WeChat uses its login password as the secondary password to turn off the "teenage mode", but the password reset only needs to send a verification code to the registered mobile phone, and it can be replaced.
In other words, if a minor holds a registered mobile phone, the "youth mode" of WeChat will be useless.
Huya also has this problem.
It turns off the secondary password of the "Youth Mode". If you "forget" it, you only need to send a verification code to the mobile phone with the registered account, and enter it correctly to cancel the mode.
For "forget" or reset the secondary password to cancel the "youth mode", Douyu needs to "fill in personal information", that is, an adult ID number.
After filling in, use Alipay's face recognition to confirm that the ID card matches the person concerned, and the "youth protection mode" can be lifted.
However, a reporter from the Beijing Youth Daily found that the ID card was not “locked” in this link, which means that as long as an adult is willing to “help” the youth, enter the ID number and complete face recognition, the “youth” can be released. mode".
In addition, although bilibili, Tencent Video, iQiyi, Youku Video and other video platforms have strict verification for retrieving secondary passwords, most of them not only need to send emails to designated mailboxes, but also need to appear in the email or upload pictures that the account registrant holds the identity Pictures of certificates and handwritten documentation.
However, a reporter from the Beijing Youth Daily found in a test that the above App can be used to log in to the original account on the computer while bypassing the "teenage mode".
Because there is no such mode in the selection on the computer side.
Even if the "youth mode" is being implemented on the App, as long as you log in to the web version with your account and password, you can see all the content of the video website in the normal mode, including payment and rewards.
action
The Office of the Cyberspace Administration of China will treat the "youth model"
Governance of loopholes
“As long as they are willing, it’s not difficult for teenagers to get their parents’ ID cards and mobile phones. What's more, sometimes even only an adult’s cooperation is needed to complete the unbinding.” According to industry insiders, the Douyu and Huya platforms use live broadcasting as a platform. Mainly, in the online disputes among minors, live streaming is a topic that cannot be avoided, and the above-mentioned platforms have set so "arbitrarily" the way to remove the youth model, which shows that the prevention of this matter has not really been implemented.
Many netizens believe that many video or live streaming apps have a youth model just to comply with regulations and avoid legal risks, and they are not really effective.
Xinhua News Agency also wrote earlier that the protection measures for minors on some live broadcast platforms are mere formalities, opening the door for minors to indulge in games and the Internet, and induce minors to impulsive consumption and huge rewards.
On May 8 this year, the relevant person in charge of the National Internet Information Office stated that this year plans to use three months to focus on launching the special action "Clearness and Remediation of the Network Environment for Minors".
This includes the governance of some loopholes and weaknesses in the "youth model" of various services.
On the one hand, we must adhere to both standard management and encouragement of innovation, and guide and support the website platform to provide products and services suitable for the use of youth; on the other hand, further optimize the function settings on the basis of the existing youth model to improve the identification of minors Accuracy, enhance the effectiveness of protection of minors, especially to work hard on effectiveness.
This group of articles / reporter Zhang Xin
Coordinator/Yu Meiying