On December 22, CCTV exposed that minors bypassed the "anti-addiction system" by renting an account and rushed to the hot search. The reporter found in a rented network that after paying 4 yuan for 1 hour, you can directly enter the game on the official App of the game through the account and password given by the customer service, and there is no verification related to minors in the whole process.
The anti-addiction system for minors has been online for several years, why does it repeatedly fail to prevent minors from "going up"?
The anti-addiction system has been around for nearly 20 years
In order to prevent teenagers from becoming addicted to mobile phones or even being deceived, domestic online games, social platforms, short video platforms, and mobile game platforms have successively launched "anti-addiction systems" or "youth mode" to restrict the time and scope of teenagers' participation in chats, games, lucky draws, and live broadcasts. Pai Pai Jun combed and found that it has been nearly 20 years since the concept and implementation of the anti-addiction system:
In August 2005, the General Administration of Press and Publication promulgated the Standards for the Development of Anti-Addiction Systems for Online Games, requiring seven large online game operating companies in China to prepare for the development of anti-addiction systems. In July 2007, the above-mentioned seven large-scale online game operating companies successively installed and trial-operated anti-addiction systems.
In 2007, the government issued the "Standards for the Development of Online Game Anti-Addiction System" for the first time, clarifying that players under the age of 18 will be included in the scope of anti-addiction supervision, and at the same time stipulating that the game time within 3 hours is "healthy" game time.
In 2011, eight ministries and commissions jointly launched anti-addiction real-name verification, covering all online games, but ignoring the emerging mobile games.
In December 2016, the Ministry of Culture issued a notice on "Regulating the Operation of Online Games", and mobile games were required to undergo real-name registration for the first time.
On July 4, 2017, Tencent launched the "Honor of Kings" health system, which is known as an "anti-addiction" initiative, and stipulated that minors could limit the time they could play, and soon after the "curfew": between 9 p.m. and 8 p.m. the next day, underage users aged 12 and under will not be able to play.
In March 2019, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) guided and organized short video platforms such as Douyin, Kuaishou, and Volcano Video to launch a pilot anti-addiction system for teenagers, and the youth mode appeared in the public's field of vision for the first time.
In October 2019, the Notice on Preventing Minors from Becoming Addicted to Online Games was released, further expanding the scope of the youth mode.
On August 30, 2021, the National Press and Publication Administration issued the Notice on Further Strict Management and Effectively Preventing Minors from Becoming Addicted to Online Games, clarifying that all online game companies can only provide services to minors for one hour from 20:00 to 21:00 on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and statutory holidays.
In November 2024, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) recently issued the Guidelines for the Establishment of Mobile Internet Models for Minors, providing specific guidance for the establishment of models for minors.
In order to avoid the anti-addiction system, the left side door appears repeatedly
According to the "2024 Report on the Protection of Minors in China's Game Industry" released a few days ago, in 2024, more than seventy percent of minors will play games for less than 3 hours per week, and more than eighty percent of minor players will not recharge or the monthly recharge amount will be less than 30 yuan. This shows that minors have achieved some results in developing healthy gaming habits.
However, the exposure of CCTV has also made people pay attention to the vulnerabilities of the anti-addiction system again, and in the face of the operation of avoiding the anti-addiction system, various game manufacturers have also continuously updated their countermeasures.
1. Fraudulently use other people's authentication information to log in
Due to the lack of an effective identification mechanism for minors, minors can borrow adult information to bypass the system. According to the "Survey Report on Minors' Summer Online Behavior (2024)", 40% of teenagers will use their parents' accounts to bypass real-name authentication, and 30% of them are unaware.
Buying and renting an account is also a way to use other people's game accounts to play games. In this way, many minors no longer have a limit on how long they can play. Nowadays, there are also rental number merchants with the so-called universal number user on the whole network to achieve one-click number registration. Minors also share online accounts, that is, looking for "game partners" on social platforms, and multiple people buy or lease an account for common use.
In this regard, game manufacturers are also working countermeasures. For example, when you log in to a Tencent's game, a face recognition "countdown" pop-up window will be triggered. If the current account is judged by the system to be used by a suspected minor, the user will be required to complete face recognition within the specified time, otherwise the account will be temporarily frozen by the system, and the user needs to re-verify the face after the penalty period ends.
Tencent has also further strengthened its monitoring of the common situation of "multiple IP address logins" for the same account in the behavior of renting an account, especially for the account that "logs in multiple times in a short period of time", and the account that refuses or fails to pass the verification will be included in the anti-addiction system supervision.
Byte Chaoxi Lightyear's "One Piece Blood Route" requires real-name authentication, and minors under the age of 14 who want to start the game need to fill in the guardian's name and ID number.
2. Log in through the "channel server" to bypass the real name
In addition to minors fraudulently using their parents' information to register and log in to the game, the identity verification left by family members on old mobile phones has also become a loophole to bypass real names. Some interviewees said that the mobile phone used by the child on weekdays is the old mobile phone he eliminated, which is automatically bound to his mobile phone information and account. After the child downloads the game through the game center provided by the mobile phone manufacturer, he directly authorizes the mobile phone manufacturer's account to enter the game. Password-free payments are also set up, and there are no obstacles encountered in the recharge.
At present, many games on the market have two versions: "official server" and "channel server". Channel server games are generally downloaded from the game app store provided by the mobile phone manufacturer, and the mobile phone manufacturer is responsible for its account data, juvenile protection standards, and servers.
In this regard, some game manufacturers have expanded the restrictions on minors in games from official uniforms to all channels. For example, NetEase's "Egg Boy Party" recognition mechanism has been connected to AI juvenile protection patrol technology and face recognition mechanism for channel servers such as Xiaomi and Huawei. There are also manufacturers who strengthen management by not setting up channel services, such as Tencent's "Yuan Dream Star" does not have channel services, and the game is completely implemented in accordance with a unified anti-addiction standard.
3. Find a booster to ensure the output of the game
The boosting market, like renting and buying accounts, has special apps, websites, stores, and some game anchor studios, etc., and the supply and demand for orders and orders are booming. Taking one of the platforms as an example, in the past 10 years, it has accumulated 100 million orders and transactions, and there are 3 million professional boosters. There are also some players who earn pocket money by working part-time as personal boosting.
There are some game boosting companies that target minors as intermediaries, and they use another way to bypass the anti-addiction system - modern practice as a bait to use minors to take orders.
Minors are "on top" of short videos again?
Parents and society have just come out of the anxiety of minors addicting to online games, and they are caught up in the anxiety that they may become addicted to short videos. Nowadays, short videos are becoming more and more popular among minors, and the time spent watching short videos is gradually increasing. Because some short videos cover learning materials, popular science knowledge, current affairs news, etc., parents cannot arbitrarily prevent minors from watching short videos.
According to a survey conducted by Tsinghua University, the prevalence rate of short videos among a sample of teenagers is as high as 90%, and only nearly 20% show a serious tendency to become addicted to short videos. The proportion of minors who are addicted to watching short videos is not high, but with the increase in the frequency and duration of browsing short videos, some parents have expressed concern that their children are addicted to watching short videos.
In an interview with China Consumer Daily, a parent of a student said: "With the anti-addiction system, children have less time to play online games, but new signs have emerged, and they are somewhat addicted to watching short videos, eating, going to the bathroom, and even taking a shower with their mobile phones to watch short videos." When I am not at home during the winter and summer vacations, it is easy for children to watch short videos for several hours, which greatly affects learning and physical and mental health. ”
After Douyin and Kuaishou launched their anti-addiction systems in 2019, they continued to increase their supervision, and in 2021, they successively announced that all real-name users under the age of 14 had entered youth mode. If the user is a real-name verified user under the age of 14, you can open Douyin and find that it is already in youth mode, and it can only be used for 40 minutes a day, and it cannot be used from 10 pm to 6 pm the next day. This is similar to the previous "curfew" of Honor of Kings.
"Top-up tipping" also needs to prevent addiction
The father slapped himself for his 9-year-old son playing an online game for 10 minutes and recharging more than 6,000 yuan; 6-year-old children play mobile games crazy "krypton gold" more than 24,000 yuan...... The disorderly recharge of online games by minors has repeatedly become a hot topic in society, causing countless parents to discuss and worry about the addiction of minors to online games and large recharges. Not only that, but it is not uncommon for minors to "reward anchors with huge amounts".
In this regard, the state and the Internet Society have taken action one after another. The Regulations on the Protection of Minors Online, which came into effect on January 1, 2024, stipulate that network service providers shall reasonably limit the amount of single consumption and the cumulative amount of consumption in a single day for minors of different ages, and shall not provide minors with paid services that are inconsistent with their capacity for civil conduct.
On May 8, the Internet Society of China issued the "Requirements for the Administration of Online Game Service Consumption for Minors (Draft for Comments)", which is the first group standard for minors to refund fees for games in China, providing a standardized path for minors and their parents to claim their rights and interests, and providing a disposal template for enterprises to respond to refund demands. It also stipulates the requirements for the management of the amount of consumption by minors.
Minors recharge and reward without their parents' knowledge, and parents also have difficulties in applying for a refund on the platform, and the difficulty lies in how to prove that the top-up and tipping behavior was made by minors. To this end, some leading manufacturers have made positive attempts. Taking NetEase's game "Egg Boy Party" as an example, it accesses the mechanism of calling face recognition for high-risk groups in all channels, and sets up an exclusive customer service entrance for refunds for minors on the whole platform, and prohibits recharge and game functions with one click.
For adult accounts used by some high-risk suspected minors, Tencent has added a new "recharge willingness verification". When a suspected high-risk account triggers face recognition during the recharge process, the user is required to read aloud to confirm his or her willingness to recharge after face verification. The video process of recharge willingness verification will also use face recognition technology to continuously verify whether it is the real name of the account, and once the willingness verification process is started, manual intervention and cancellation will not be possible.
Looking to the future: all parties should work together to promote it
The anti-addiction action for minors is not a problem that can be solved overnight and with one soldier, but requires the concerted efforts of all sectors of society.
Pai Paijun found that the "Guidelines for the Construction of Mobile Internet Minor Models" released in November showed that it would explore the introduction of age-specific recommendation standards for the first time. For example, in the minor mode, users under the age of 3 and between the ages of 3 and under the age of 8 will be given priority to display age-appropriate content.
For parents and minors, the above-mentioned "Guidelines" are a "manual" for the use of models. The Ministry of Education has previously issued a "Letter to Parents of Primary and Secondary School Students Across the Country" to guide parents to take active and rapid action to effectively prevent their children from becoming addicted to the Internet. The letter advocates that all parents should fulfill their parental responsibilities and practice the "five musts", including good guidance and supervision, emphasis on setting an example, frequent companionship to increase family affection, psychological guidance to promote health, and more cooperation and frequent communication.
In addition, the family should also actively carry out collaborative co-governance with other subjects. Zhou Runan, an associate professor at Sun Yat-sen University's School of Journalism and Communication, said that when minors show obvious signs of addiction, they can seek external help such as psychological counseling and anti-addiction withdrawal training.
Not only parents, but also adults should do their best in establishing the right values for minors. There have been all kinds of "toxic videos" involving minors on short video platforms: posing for plots such as minors eating plasticine, smoking in the toilet, and campus fights, packaging children as so-called "sexy babes" for bottomless marketing; Provide paid scolding services and disseminate short video tutorials of "opening the box and hanging people"; filming and selling obscene and pornographic products on short video platforms...... These are all behaviors that are not conducive to the formation of good values by minors.
For game manufacturers, in addition to increasing the code on the anti-addiction system, they should also pay attention to avoiding the risk of leakage of face recognition, a common function of the system, which increases the burden on the public. If facial information is stolen, criminals may apply it to some scenarios in life that require facial recognition, such as opening bank accounts, applying for loans, etc., and the impact is very uncontrollable.
Only by making concerted efforts by multiple parties, taking into account the actual situation of minors, and continuously exploring feasible solutions and accumulating experience, can the long-term governance of minors' online addiction prevention go further and further.
(Reference sources: Yangcheng Evening News, Southern Metropolis Daily, CCTV News, The Paper, China News Network, Yan'an Internet Information, State Cyberspace Administration website, Rule of Law Daily, Beijing News, Rights and Interests Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, China Consumer Daily, Xinhuanet, Securities Times, Jinling Evening News, China Youth Daily, Beijing Youth Daily, 21st Century Business Herald, CCTV)
Topic moderator | Reporter Chen Ruizhi
Editor: Li Geli
Source: Yangcheng Evening News • Yangcheng faction