Image/Visual China
Text | Ye Yihang
Recently, the China Youth Research Association released the “Research Report on the Usage Status of Apps by Minors and Internet Protection” (hereinafter referred to as the “report”) and organized expert discussions. The widespread use of embedded short videos by minors has attracted widespread attention from experts.
An “embedded short video platform” refers to a platform that integrates short video functionality into comprehensive application software, relying on the platform’s existing users and their social relationships to publish and disseminate short videos, such as the “Seconds Shot” integrated into Sina Weibo, the “Video Number” integrated into WeChat, “Microvision” integrated into QQ, and “Good Looking Video” integrated into Baidu. In comparison, platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou, which focus primarily on short video functionality, are classified as “standalone short video platforms.”
In response, from the introduction of documents such as the “Regulations on the Ecological Governance of Online Information Content” to the newly revised minor protection law adding a special chapter on “online protection,” many short video platforms have launched youth modes and anti-addiction systems to monitor the viewing content and browsing time for minors, effectively putting a “regulatory lock” on minors’ healthy online use.
Regulatory Challenges Can Be Overcome
On January 3, 2023, at the “Seminar on Internet Protection for Minors” jointly hosted by the Research Base for Governance and Law of Minors at China University of Political Science and Law and Nandu Big Data Research Institute, the “Research Report on Minor Protection on Embedded Short Video Platforms” was released, incorporating embedded short video platforms into the research vision of short video platform governance. The study shows that since 2020, WeChat has added the short video module “Video Number,” and by June 2022, the active scale of WeChat’s video number had reached 818 million, completely surpassing Douyin. In addition, in September 2018, the new version of QQ also added an entry for Weishi short videos, and now most of QQ’s regular users are minors.
This report analyzes the specific situation of minors using various apps. Among the minors using social apps, 92% of the respondents use WeChat, 48.3% use QQ, and 40.2% use both social apps simultaneously. Meanwhile, minors not only use the chat function of social apps but also frequently use embedded short videos, live broadcasts, mini-games, and other functions. The report further points out that many large internet platforms have embedded short video modules within their existing social and information products, enabling users to quickly switch and circulate between various functions on the platform, providing convenience for minors to watch short videos, but also easily leading to insufficient protection of minors’ rights and interests. WeChat and QQ, as representatives of embedded short video platforms, along with standalone platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou, together constitute the “mainstream ecosystem” for minors watching short videos.
According to the “2021 National Research Report on Internet Usage by Minors” jointly released by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League and the China Internet Network Information Center, the number of minor internet users in China reached 191 million in 2021, with 47.6% frequently watching short videos online. It can be said that the level of civilization of short video platforms has become an inseparable part of social civilization. Against this backdrop, strengthening the governance of short video platforms is crucial for the growth of minors, and embedded short video platforms cannot become the forgotten corner of internet regulation.
Currently, embedded short videos are developing rapidly, providing convenience for minors to watch short videos, but this operating model also has numerous shortcomings in protecting minors’ rights and interests, such as in the identification and authentication of minors’ identities. The report points out that while the social platforms like WeChat and QQ, upon which embedded short videos rely, have user real-name authentication functions, they do not enforce mandatory authentication, and real-name information is only required when it comes to payments. This identification and authentication loophole is also reflected in the usage process, i.e., embedded short video platforms cannot distinguish whether the account is used by a parent or a minor, which further provides opportunities for exploiting regulatory loopholes.
There is also room for improvement in the use of the youth mode on embedded short video platforms. The most apparent issue is that some embedded short video platforms lack pop-up reminders to activate the youth mode. The report shows that standalone short video apps generally remind users to activate the youth mode through pop-ups when logging in or opening the app. However, some mainstream social apps that have embedded short video functions do not have such reminders, leading to minors being unaware that the app has a youth mode or having difficulty finding the entry point to activate the youth mode.
In addition, the youth mode must not only “avoid harm” but also “seek benefits”; it should not only build a barrier against harmful information but also open up access to quality content, allowing positive energy and traffic to resonate together. For example, the report points out that in recent years, short video apps like Douyin have continuously strengthened content ecosystem construction, with noticeable improvements in content richness and knowledge. Many minor users have expressed that they can gain knowledge, learn skills, and broaden their horizons through Douyin short videos. However, the report shows that in terms of content pool richness, compared to standalone short video platforms, some embedded short video platforms have not been able to provide enough quality video content to meet the usage needs of minors. This weakens the expected effectiveness of the youth mode and may also reduce the user experience of the youth mode, pushing minors to seek alternative paths.
Guiding minors to use the internet scientifically and healthily requires the concerted efforts of all sectors of society and long-term commitment. It is necessary to exert external efforts to create a clean and upright online ecosystem while also improving internal capabilities to enhance minors’ online literacy, thereby promoting their discernment and immunity.
Platforms must first fulfill their primary responsibilities, ensuring accountability for their domains. On one hand, they should build exclusive content pools for minors, refine the functions and content categories of the youth mode, and avoid a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, they should classify and grade based on the different online needs of minors in various age groups, providing reasonable choices for minors and their parents. Additionally, considerations could include educational stages, gender, and regions, allowing the youth mode to better meet the online needs of different minors. For example, Guo Kaiyuan pointed out that Douyin has already made effective attempts in filtering exclusive content for minors and age classification, constructing different content pools based on the acceptance capacity and needs of minors in various age groups, which serves as a reference for the industry.
Furthermore, considerations for physical and mental health should be incorporated to make designs more user-friendly. For instance, setting a clear and prominent entry point for the youth mode on the app homepage, with straightforward explanations of its specific functions and operating methods; incorporating more factors that protect minors’ physical and mental health into the mode’s design, such as adding eye protection modes to prevent myopia in minors. More fundamentally, Guo Kaiyuan believes that it is necessary to strengthen the separate management of the embedded short video modules and the application of the youth mode at the technical level. This fundamentally cuts off the regulatory loopholes caused by the coupling of different functions within the platform, maximally enhancing regulatory standards, and leveraging big data technology and algorithms to appropriately expand the protection scope of the youth mode in social software, providing special protection for links shared by minors in social scenarios.
In addition, educating minors about online literacy is one of the important aspects of their socialization. The report points out that in the internet age, the ability to consciously identify online risks and effectively protect oneself is a basic skill that minors need to possess. Therefore, it is essential to strengthen education on minors’ online literacy and guide them in healthy internet usage, enhancing their awareness and ability for self-protection.
In this regard, effective cultivation should be conducted for different age groups of minors. The report suggests that for younger minors, the focus should be on cultivating awareness of online risks, recommending methods such as family education, school education, and social publicity to enrich minors’ understanding of the risks in the online society, fostering their awareness to seek help from parents or schools when encountering online risks; for older minors, due to their richer social experiences compared to younger ones, they possess a certain level of discernment, but lack specific experience in preventing online risks. Therefore, alongside the dissemination of online safety knowledge, it is also necessary to strengthen education on risk prevention measures, including familiarizing them with online safety operations and relevant laws and regulations regarding online safety.
Moreover, the report emphasizes that in cultivating minors’ online literacy, attention should be paid to improving the online literacy of minors’ parents (or other guardians). When facing new internet phenomena, parents (or other guardians) should first develop good internet usage habits and actively learn relevant online safety knowledge and skills, understanding the correct ways to respond to online risks. At the same time, they should lead by example, reasonably arrange online time, and set a good example for their minor children regarding internet usage. Additionally, parents (or other guardians) should timely communicate online safety knowledge with their minor children, guiding them to seek resources that promote their self-development online and consciously resist harmful content, fully leveraging the positive role of the internet in minors’ learning and life.