Experts warn about flip side of popular technology

Despite their popularity and the benefits of using them, short videos have been found to bring some new problems to rural life. Experts said addressing the issues requires a joint effort from all people involved, including the government, short video platforms and rural residents.

Problems include senior rural residents being vulnerable to potential fraud disguised in the form of short videos. Some people in rural areas also spend too much money on giving tips to webcasts they like, which produces discontent with their spouses and sometimes even divorce, according to The Comment, a magazine of Xinhua News Agency.

Children, especially left-behind children lacking care and attention from parents, tend to get addicted to short videos and imitate improper words and deeds in the videos, leading to concerns from educators, the magazine said.

Xia Jinxing, director of the School of Vocational Education Teachers at Chongqing Normal University, said these problems arose because some farmers, especially young and senior rural residents, lacked the ability to judge and select information thinking of their limited educational backgrounds.

"On the other hand, China has a large rural population and the cost for the management and supervision on the use of the internet in rural areas is too high," he said. "Such an issue depends a lot on people's self-discipline to avoid misbehavior on short video apps."

Zhu Wei, deputy director of the Communication Law Research Center at China University of Political Science and Law, said many people in rural areas are poorly educated and have comparatively less sense of the law. Some might be unaware that their behaviors on the apps have violated laws.

"Some people even know they might have broken the law but the lure of material benefits, including money, motivates them to still take chances."

Both Xia and Zhu called for basic legal education concerning the use of the internet, particularly short video apps among rural residents to help them understand what is legal and what is not.

Xia also suggested that vocational, community and senior education should be boosted and more entertainment resources be cultivated in the countryside to enrich people's lives.

While there are many longterm steps, Liu Yuanju, a researcher at the Shanghai Institute of Finance and Law, said some technical and practical measures can be taken right away.

Some short video apps, such as Kuaishou, have launched a "teenage mode", in which children can only watch content that is selected for them, such as courses on music, calligraphy and painting.

In Kuaishou's teenage mode, children can use the platform for up to 40 minutes a day and can only use the platform between 6 am and 10 pm. They're not allowed to give tips to webcast anchors, nor use the livestreaming function themselves.

Liu said such an approach has been somewhat effective in protecting children and should be widely used on all short video platforms.

For adults who spend too much money on giving tips or rewards to webcasts, Liu said platforms should allow them to change their minds and ask for their money back within a period of time, say 30 minutes.

"A half-hour after people give tips or rewards, they should be asked for confirmation on whether they meant to do so," he said.

"I believe a design like this could help prevent some spur-of-the-moment tip-giving on short video platforms," Liu added.