Guide
In recent years, with the popularity of many live broadcast platforms, various live broadcast room chaos has also emerged in an endless stream. Recently, Mr. Liu, a citizen, told "Ask Beijing" (Beijing News Broadcasting News Hotline 65159063) that he played games on the peppercorn live APP and lost more than 6 million yuan in 4 years.
There are raffle games in the live room
Mr. Liu, a citizen, said that he began to use the pepper live broadcast APP around 2018, and he can often see various "floating screens" in the live broadcast room, and after clicking in, he found that many of the live broadcast rooms were not live, but there were various lottery games that could be played with virtual coins.
Mr. Liu: His platform will have some small game rewards of the kind of floating screen, that is, in the most conspicuous position has been floating horizontally, "who who who has obtained how much", and then you play the live broadcast platform to see the total drift, you want to know what this is, and then you go into the live broadcast room, the live broadcast inside will have a lot of called "ghost live broadcast room", that is, this live broadcast room is no one is live, just a picture is placed here, there are some games that can win or lose virtual coins. He is now equivalent to opening a national natural casino.
Players tap the floating screen and jump to the ghost live room
8 seconds may lose 2900 yuan
What exactly are the raffle games in these live rooms? Reporters download pepper on the mobile phone live APP, but how can not find the game interface, player Mr. Sun told reporters, only recharge to a certain amount and have many times to tip the anchor record players can see the game interface, the reporter used Mr. Sun's account login, saw such as "smashing golden eggs" "gift guess guess" and many other lottery games, of which "gift guess guess" a round of 30 seconds, the player invested 2000 yuan in a single game, and in a game called "gods turntable", the turntable rotated a circle, In just 8 seconds, the player may lose 2900 yuan.
Mr. Sun: I bet in this position, he will circle inside, click is 100 yuan, at this point 1000, at this point is 3000, the point is different, he will give you a circle, turn to which to count which, point to start the game, just such a simple operation, it is so simple, you see, many people here are playing this thing, alas, you see, this is earned, this is the god of wealth bag, this person earned 1000 ...
Live room game interface /respondents
Whether it constitutes online gambling depends on two points
So, can such a live broadcast room be called a "casino"? Where is the line between gaming and gambling? Zhao Zhanzhang, a well-known IT lawyer and legal counsel of the Credit Evaluation Center of the Internet Society of China, believes that whether it constitutes gambling, it is necessary to pay attention to whether the game qualification is purchased for a fee, and whether the won virtual items can be converted into RMB.
Zhao Zhan: If you say that you open a casino, it is to organize more than three people to gamble, and then draw profits, which is a kind of gambling behavior. But there are some things on the Internet that are like this, such as what kind of carousel, or smashing golden eggs, whether these are suspected of gambling, on the one hand, it depends on the qualifications he obtains, whether he buys them through payment. On the other hand, if I win, I get a virtual item, but it cannot be reversed into RMB, and it is generally difficult to identify it as gambling in this case, it is actually a game with a certain nature of such a gamble.
Player: The chain of monetization benefits is complete
Do the games in the Pepper Live APP meet the above two points? According to Mr. Liu Sun and others reflected, in order to play the game, you must use cash to buy "pepper beans" on the platform, after playing several rounds of games in the live broadcast room, someone will immediately take the initiative to contact the player, saying that the virtual currency won through the game can be exchanged for cash, these people who can withdraw the virtual currency are the so-called "consignees", and the existence of the "consignee" makes the peppercorn live broadcast form a complete "recharge - game - realization" interest chain.
Mr. Liu: Actually, someone is sitting in the back, and as soon as he sees that you are in this room, he will send you a private message, ask you to add his WeChat, and then use WeChat to introduce these situations to you. He said you this virtual coin, if you play this little game and win, I will give you cash. Doesn't this form a chain of gambling.
Players play the game with Peppercorn Coins to win shells
Players: 5 people lost 20 million
Since then, Mr. Liu and others have been addicted to it, and in just a few years, Mr. Liu has lost more than 6 million yuan in the game. And according to Mr. Liu, players like him who spend a lot of money are countless in the pepper live broadcast.
Mr. Liu: The sum of these 5 of us is (lost) 20 million yuan, and there are too many people in the country who are now pit by the pepper platform, which is very miserable, I am like this.
Mr. Liu's recharge record at the pepper live broadcast
Customer Service: The game is official
Why do these live games involve so much money? The reporter first contacted the official customer service of The pepper live broadcast, and the staff said that these games are officially set, and the specific game rules can be seen in the game page.
Pepper live broadcast official customer service: this does not need to be set by the anchor.
Reporter: Is it a game on our platform?
Pepper Live Official Customer Service: Do you have any questions?
Reporter: Do we have an introduction to this game on the platform settings?
Pepper live broadcast official customer service: there is a rule in our game.
There are multiple monetization paths
The reporter found that in the game page, you can indeed find the game's "gameplay introduction", "reward description" and other content, and in the "special statement" also mentioned that the pepper platform strictly prohibits anyone from luring users with cashback and other ways.
Official customer service of Hua pepper live broadcast: The platform strictly prohibits the anchor and anyone from luring users to give gifts or consumption in inducing ways such as cashbacks and rebates, and once found, they will be dealt with immediately and severely, including but not limited to penalties such as suspension of broadcasting and suspension or transfer to judicial organs. If the platform is also a green civilization live broadcast platform, this phenomenon is not allowed.
However, many players have reported that there are various ways to monetize virtual coins on the platform. The official customer service of Hua pepper live also mentioned that virtual coins can be monetized by sending gifts between the two accounts.
Peppercorn live official customer service: if we peppercorn beans are recharged to the account, and then can not be directly refunded, if you must become cash, you can give gifts, into peppercorns after the withdrawal.
Reporter: It has been given to the anchor, so how can I bring it up?
Pepper Live Official Customer Service: I mean do you have any other accounts, right?
Reporter: Is it with my other account?
Pepper live broadcast official customer service: that's what it means.
Operators know there is a "consignee"
However, through such a way of withdrawal, there is a large discount, and through the "consignee" withdrawal, the discount is smaller, so that players feel more "profitable". According to a recording provided by the player to meet with the official operator of the pepper platform, the operator is also aware of the existence of the "consignee" in the platform.
Official operator of the pepper platform: Aren't you playing on the platform, don't you know Qingqing, Lala (the name of the "consignee") and so on? You brush him with this gift, and he gives you the money immediately, and you don't even have the risk of taxation.
A chat history between the player and the "consignee" Lala, who exchanges gifts for cash
Whistleblowing Center: Contact the public security department
What department should regulate these lottery games on the pepper platform? The reporter first called the Beijing Municipal Internet Illegal and Bad Information Reporting Center, and the staff said that it was necessary to contact the public security department.
Beijing Internet Illegal and Bad Information Reporting Center: You need to report to the public security department that we do not have this judgment authority, because gambling itself involves illegal crimes.
The player takes a screenshot of the chat with the official operator a of the peppercorns, and the other party says that the number of floating screens will be adjusted
Public Security Bureau: Report to the police station
The reporter also dialed the external office phone of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, and the staff said that the problem should be reported to the police station.
Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau: This should be able to consult the police station, which is defined by the police station.
Pepper platform: There is no authorization for "consignees" to liquidate
The reporter inquired and learned that the peppercorn live broadcast belongs to Beijing Mijing Hefeng Technology Co., Ltd., the company's registered place is No. 10, Jiuxianqiao Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, according to a video provided by Mr. Liu and others taken in March this year, they have previously gone to the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau Chaoyang Branch Jiuxianqiao Police Station to report the case, the police contacted the pepper platform staff to negotiate with the player. Hua Pepper said that the platform did not authorize the consignee to cash, and the player said that such a large amount of transaction behavior, the platform can not not know.
Pepper Platform Staff: We are not allowed to do this, we have not authorized them to privately help them with these transactions.
Player: You don't control yourself clearly!
Pepper platform staff: Then you will provide evidence first, and the police will judge it.
Police: As long as it can be monetized, this kind of thing is gambling. You must provide evidence, let's come to the public security organs for screening, after screening, if there is indeed an illegal act, we will intervene, and the criminal police will intervene, understand?
Jiangtai Police Station: Evidence is required
The reporter also learned about the situation from the Jiuxianqiao Police Station of the Chaoyang Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau as a citizen, and the staff said:
Jiuxianqiao Police Station: Those should all be counted as online gambling.
Reporter: Is the report with us?
Jiuxianqiao Police Station: He now belongs to the General Station, because now the Jiuxian Bridge is not an epidemic situation, and some areas are divided into the General Station.
The reporter then contacted the Chaoyang Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, and the staff said that the distinction between online gambling and online games should be based on whether it is profitable, specifically defined, and it is also necessary to provide corresponding evidence to the police.
Experts: The platform uses the psychology of gamblers to make a profit
The reporter's inquiry learned that since its launch in June 2015, the number of users of the pepper live broadcast platform has continued to rise, and the quarterly active user scale of the pepper live broadcast in the first quarter of 2021 has reached 26.5842 million, and more than 90% of the platform's income comes from virtual tokens. Wang Ruxi, a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua University, believes that the launch of these gambling games by live broadcasting platforms is to use the gambler's gambler's heart to make a profit, which violates corporate social responsibility and is not conducive to the long-term development of the industry.
Wang Ruxi: It is a way that the platform wants to keep users sticky, which is not conducive to the so-called corporate social responsibility we are talking about, nor is it conducive to the entire game industry, because it is not a serious game at all. Overall, in addition to satisfying the gambler mentality of some users on the one hand, it satisfies the platform on the other hand. It used a more explicit and straightforward way to make a profit.
Chat history/interviewees of the player base
Pay attention to gambling-like gameplay
At the same time, Wang Ruxi believes that this kind of gambling-style play needs to attract social attention.
Wang Ruxi: It is a social problem, in fact, in addition to this more obvious, open-ended way of gambling, in fact, there are many mechanisms for this more hidden gambling model in a large number of game industries, and the funds it uses to obtain throughout this mechanism are also very considerable.
Player: Want to be strictly regulated
Mr. Liu told reporters that he has embarked on a road of no return, and he hopes that the relevant parties can strictly supervise and not let more people go astray.
Mr. Liu: It is difficult for many people to resist this temptation. I also hope that there will be a regulatory department to carry out very strict supervision of platforms such as peppercorn live broadcasting, and not let more people end up with such a tragic end as these few of us.
The follow-up progress of the incident, "Ask Beijing" will continue to pay attention.
Small ask said
Quasi-gambling games
Satisfy the gambler mentality of the player
It also makes the platform hugely profitable
Original manuscript Reprinting requires authorization otherwise report
Reporter 丨 Wang Xiaomeng Editor 丨 Wang Xiaomeng
Duty editor-in-chief 丨 Duyi
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