Investigation of "Selling Miserable" Live Broadcast Routines: Late at Night, Some Live Broadcast Rooms Become "Les Miserables"

"I was terminally ill and I didn't know how long I could survive, and the only thing I couldn't let go of was my young child...... This may be my last live broadcast, giving all the benefits to my family. "A female anchor cried in front of the camera.

"My family doesn't understand me either, my wife divorces me, and my son ignores ......me," said an old man, choking up, telling about the hardships of starting his own business while selling jewelry products.

"The fruits grown by the uncle in the village are of good quality and green and environmentally friendly, so the family can start quickly, so that the uncle can go back to rest early. The faceless anchor said. In front of the camera, the two looked at the elderly man who was nearly 70 years old, thinly dressed and shivering from the cold.

This is the scene of live streaming with goods that the reporter of "Rule of Law Daily" saw in the live broadcast room late at night recently. When night fell, the pointer crossed 11 o'clock, and some live broadcast rooms suddenly became "Les Miserables", and the cries and tears in the middle of the night seemed to inspire people's kindness and empathy, becoming the traffic password for these anchors.

The interviewed experts pointed out that the grasp of consumers' sympathy for the weak and the low cost of violating the law are the main reasons for the repeated prohibition of "miserable" live broadcasts. It is recommended to improve the rules for live broadcast behavior, build an anchor access mechanism, and make full use of information technology and manual monitoring to increase the extent of platform supervision.

Use the elderly to sell miserable goods

Induce the audience to place orders one after another

At 1 o'clock in the morning on December 9, in the live broadcast room of "×× Mountain Stream" on a certain platform, the two elderly people were still live broadcasting.

They sat in tents surrounded by freshly picked oranges. Because of the low temperature and the thin clothes of the two old men, they were so cold that they rubbed their hands together. Off-camera, the anchor live-streamed the goods in the form of narration, introducing that these oranges were all grown by the village uncle. "Laugh and say hello to the fans" and "Say thank you to your family...... The anchor commanded the two old men in front of the camera.

The anchor claimed that the live broadcast of fruit sales is mainly for public welfare, and most of the proceeds will be distributed to the elderly in the village, "Our team only makes a little money." And when netizens typed out messages such as "Why do you want to let the old man live broadcast so late", "Why don't you wear more on such a cold day", "Let the old man go back to rest early" and other messages, the anchor's reply was obviously impatient, "If the fruit can't be sold, how can farmers make money and live", "It's not so much that it's better to buy two boxes of fruits, and the old man can go back to rest after selling them", "The family quickly places an order".

The reporter observed for many days and found that the live broadcast room started after 10 o'clock in the evening every day, and was often online at one or two o'clock in the morning.

The reporter placed an order for a box of oranges in the live broadcast room, but after getting it, he found that it was not the same province as the orchard that the anchor claimed to have picked and distributed. After the reporter fed back the matter to the customer service in the live broadcast room, the other party did not respond.

On the morning of December 9, the reporter gave feedback to the platform where the live broadcast room was suspected of using the elderly to sell miserably. On December 12, the relevant staff of the platform responded that the facts of the live broadcast room's use of the elderly to sell miserable goods were conclusive, and the platform had permanently banned the e-commerce permissions of relevant talents.

It's not uncommon for late-night live broadcasts to sell miserably - dim lighting, simple environments, and people with tired faces and tears in their eyes have told about their misfortunes. In the live broadcast room, there are dozens of netizens, and hundreds or thousands of people, and there are not a few who give tips and place orders.

At half past 12 o'clock in the morning on December 8th, the live broadcast room of "×× Jewelry Selection" on a certain platform was still very "lively", the anchor called himself "son", focusing on "filial piety", and the target group was elderly women. "It's too difficult to start a business, my family doesn't understand, and I am hat......ed by my peers," the anchor choked up, "In order to benefit everyone, I don't know how many peers I have been, and I can't remember how many people have scolded me, but as long as I can bring you really good jade, I don't care about these." ”

At this time, the sad atmosphere continued to be set off in the live broadcast room, and someone in the comment area swiped the screen, "How can you make money to support your family at such a low price, no wonder your daughter-in-law wants to be angry with you" "Mr. Sun, you can't sell it anymore, this piece of jade rough is the last piece left to you by your grandfather" "Child, you have a heart, it's better than my children to me"...... A faceless control officer in the live broadcast room echoed: "Mr. Sun, even if you don't care about outsiders, you should take care of your family." For the welfare of mothers, your home is going to be scattered"......

Immediately afterwards, the anchor began to bring the goods: "For the sake of the mothers in the live broadcast room, what if I have nothing in the end." Worth millions of yuan of rough stones, my son made it into a jade bracelet, filial piety to all mothers, 299 yuan, on the link!" "Mothers, see how much I love you, I have spent hundreds of millions of yuan to build a nursing home for you in the past 3 years, and when you are old, take the jade you bought from me, stay for free, and then I will honor you!"

The reporter noticed that from 11 o'clock in the evening of the previous day to 1 o'clock in the morning of the next day, the anchor said at least 3 times only the words "this is the last piece of jade rough left in my grandfather or the museum at home"; Accompanied by sad music, the anchor choked up several times during the live broadcast, and many netizens were moved by the anchor and placed orders one after another.

Implement false sales and miserable marketing

Illegal and immoral suspicion of fraud

In fact, "miserable" live streaming is not a new thing. In the video, the young man's home is surrounded by four walls, the old man takes his child to sell pomegranates on the side of the road, but the pomegranates are ruthlessly thrown out by the people in the car...... For the sake of traffic and monetization, short videos and live broadcasts are emerging in an endless stream.

On September 20, the Liangshan Prefecture Public Security Bureau and other departments announced the details of Sichuan's first "series of Internet celebrity live broadcast cases", revealing the "Liangshan Qubu", "Zhao Ling'er", "Liangshan Mengyang" and other Internet celebrities with millions of fans, through creating "visual poverty", bringing goods and selling counterfeit agricultural products, and finally seeking high profits of the "fan attraction-drainage-goods-realization" interest chain.

With the intensification of the crackdown and rectification, the "miserable" live broadcast began to hibernate, and some anchors were ready to move in the middle of the night.

Sun Xing (pseudonym), a short video enthusiast from Guangdong, was impressed: one night in July this year, he swiped a sick anchor while browsing a shopping app, and kept crying that his time was short and he felt sorry for his young children. When there were more and more netizens in the live broadcast room and they were concerned about its status, she began to "send benefits" - selling jewelry at a discount, "I will sell more than 100 or 200 crystals with an original price of several thousand yuan, and I hope that the family members who want it can grab it, so I should give my children some blessings."

"The first time I swiped it, I didn't realize that she was pretending, and I felt very pitiful, only in her 30s. As a result, a few months later, I brushed her again, and it was still the same set of words. There are also people in the barrage who poke at her, sometimes saying that she is sick, and sometimes saying that her family is sick. Sun Xing said that the "miserable" live broadcast is too hateful, consuming the kindness of netizens and polluting the Internet atmosphere.

Lawyer An Zhijun, a partner at Beijing Yinghe Law Firm, said that the legal issues involved in the "miserable" live broadcast can be divided into two levels.

"If the miserable situation of the anchor is a fact, and the miserable selling is only to increase sales and improve the living situation, in this case, if there is no problem with the quality of the product, then this kind of miserable selling is not illegal; if the miserable selling is to cover up the truth that the goods and services are illegal, so that consumers fall into a wrong understanding and then buy goods or services, resulting in property losses, the miserable seller is suspected of fraud, and in serious cases, he can violate the criminal law and should be investigated for criminal responsibility. An Zhijun said.

In the view of Li Jie, director of Beijing Guantao Zhongmao (Qingdao) Law Firm, selling goods through fabrication of tragic facts does not involve the evaluation of the goods, and the goods themselves do not have quality defects and other problems, and this kind of sales method is a kind of fraud.

Therefore, when the anchor who is full of routines overturns, according to the Consumer Protection Law, the deceived consumer can ask the anchor with the goods to refund and receive compensation for three times the price of the product. If the livestreaming platform clearly knows or should know that the anchor with goods is using its platform to carry out false marketing and infringe on the lawful rights and interests of consumers, and fails to take necessary measures, it shall bear joint and several liability with the anchor in accordance with law. Li Jie said.

In the interview, some industry insiders pointed out that it is difficult to distinguish between the real and the fake of the anchor's miserable sale, but in reality, there are indeed people who have difficulties and want to get help through the Internet, so it is not reasonable to ban the "miserable" anchor "one size fits all". So, how exactly do you tell the truth of the anchor's experience?

"The E-Commerce Law stipulates that e-commerce platform operators shall require operators applying to enter the platform to sell goods or provide services to submit their identity, address, contact information, administrative licenses and other true information, conduct verification and registration, establish registration files, and regularly verify and update them. An Zhijun said that the main body of verification of the anchor's experience should be the live broadcast platform. However, at present, the law does not take "providing information about one's own experience" as the legal obligation of anchors to enter the platform, and this blank spot needs to be filled urgently.

Improve the rules of conduct for live streaming

Strengthen the supervision of platforms

In March this year, the Cyberspace Administration of China issued a notice that in accordance with the 2023 "Qing Lang" series of special action plans, from March 12, a two-month special action of "Qing Lang and Strict Rectification of 'Self-Media' Chaos" will be carried out. Inducing people with disabilities to gain traffic through illegal and immoral methods such as misery, spoofing, and abuse, and taking advantage of minors for profit without regard for their physical and mental health.

Although the supervision has increased, why are these "miserable" live broadcasts repeatedly banned and still have a market?

Ren Chao, deputy dean of the School of Economics and Law of East China University of Political Science and Law, believes that the reason why "miserable" live broadcasts or short videos have been repeatedly banned is, in the final analysis, a kind of grasp of consumers' sympathy for the weak. The content of these "miserable" live broadcasts focuses on daily emotional disputes, such as mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflicts, and husband's cheating. This kind of thing can happen in every household and can resonate with viewers. In order to further grasp the sympathy of the viewers, the anchor told the viewers with tears in the form of pictures and texts, and the viewers will unconsciously tilt towards the anchor psychologically, and the perfect image of the anchor's kindness and responsibility will be deeply rooted in the hearts of fans.

In addition, most of the life experiences of elderly anchors are tragically abandoned by their children, their wives have passed away, and they have raised their grandchildren alone. Under the influence of the good social customs of respecting the elderly and loving the young in the mainland, everyone will have a protector mentality towards the elderly, which may be thinking of their parents, grandparents, or thinking of their old age. In the era when traffic is king, it can resonate with viewers and make them sympathetic, so that they can take the initiative to buy goods in the live broadcast room with money from their own pockets, which can bring huge profits to the institution, and this huge profit is often only one-tenth of the elderly anchor, and they will be grateful, whether it is the input cost or the way of profit distribution, it is the company behind the anchor that is most willing to see. Ren Chao said.

In Ren Chao's view, there is a trend of routines in the live broadcast of the elderly in the "miserable" live broadcast, obvious traces of manipulation by self-media and MCN companies, unfair profit distribution of love and shopping income in the live broadcast room, and long-term live broadcast late at night that damages the health of the elderly. The subordinate relationship between the elderly anchor and the MCN company should pay special attention to whether it violates the relevant provisions of the labor law on the employee's right to rest and the right to remuneration, and whether it violates the principle of fairness in the civil law.

Li Jie said that this kind of behavior may not be within the scope of the platform's key supervision, and the platform generally only takes account blocking for fraud. The anchor will open a new account in a few days and continue to make the same live broadcast, and the cost of violating the law is low.

How should we standardize the governance of online marketing routines such as "posing for photos" and "selling miserable" live broadcasts?

An Zhijun suggested that the rules of live broadcast behavior should be improved. When the live broadcast platform settles in, it prohibits abnormal sales methods such as miserable sales in the agreement, and formulates targeted responsibilities to fundamentally eliminate abnormal sales behavior. In addition, it is necessary to strengthen the supervision of platforms. Livestreaming platforms should establish a comprehensive monitoring system of "information technology + manual monitoring", promptly discovering and fixing evidence of abnormal sales such as miserable sales, promptly cutting off the live broadcast, banning or even blocking accounts involved in abnormal sales such as miserable sales for a limited period of time, and restricting the registration and stationing of entities and anchors who register live streaming accounts.

Li Jie believes that the platform can set up a special review department for this kind of "miserable" live broadcast room, increase the intensity of special review, prohibit the commercial realization of false "miserable" live broadcast rooms, and carry the banner of platform responsibility. It is also necessary to strengthen the linkage between the platform and the regulatory and law enforcement departments, and strictly punish companies and individuals who specialize in marketing "miserable sales", and the platform should actively assist the regulatory and law enforcement departments to strangle such illegal acts in the cradle.

According to the Rule of Law Daily