‘Teenager Mode’ in Video Apps Has Flaws

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A regional consumer rights watchdog has found that a feature introduced to limit the screen time of teenagers is not as effective as intended, underscoring the challenges and complexities in implementing the regulation. The Shanghai Consumers Council found that the “teenager mode” on 20 Chinese major video and livestreaming platforms — including Douyin, Kuaishou, Bilibili, and iQiyi — lacked relevant content for minors as required, with some showing empty pages with no videos, according to a report released Tuesday. Instead of adding more educational and knowledge-based videos in the feed, many were instead filled with food recommendations, among others.

一名地区消费者权益监察员发现，为限制青少年的上网时间而推出的一项功能没有预期的那么有效，这凸显了实施该法规的挑战和复杂性。上海市消费者委员会周二发布的一份报告显示，抖音、快手、哔哩哔哩、爱奇艺等20家中国主要视频和直播平台的“青少年模式”未按要求为未成年人提供相关内容，部分平台出现空页，无视频。很多视频没有在推送中添加更多的教育和知识视频，而是加入了美食推荐等内容。

Introduced in 2019 by China’s top internet watchdog, many platforms laterinstituted a 40-minute daily time use on minors, with no nighttime browsing allowed, via “teenager mode.” The feature aimed to curb the screen time of minors and also limit their access to harmful content.

2019年，中国顶级互联网监管机构推出，许多平台随后通过“青少年模式”，在未成年人身上设置40分钟的每日时间使用，不允许夜间浏览。该功能旨在限制未成年人的上屏时间，并限制他们接触有害内容。

The Shanghai Consumers Council found that many platforms had also failed to roll out the feature, with two apps, Xigua Video and Haokan Video — owned by internet giants ByteDance and Baidu, respectively — still granting minors nighttime access.

上海市消费者委员会（Shanghai Consumers Council）发现，许多平台也未能推出该功能，两款应用程序（西瓜视频和好看视频）仍允许未成年人在夜间使用，这两款应用程序分别归属于互联网巨头字节跳动和百度。

Gan Wei, a father of four from Guangzhou, told Sixth Tone that, despite having a password feature, his children were able to easily bypass the “teenager mode.” “You can’t solely rely on the ‘teenager mode’ to solve the issue when the harmful content can be seen anywhere online,” Gan said. “As parents, it’s impossible to supervise their usage all the time.”

广州四口之父甘伟告诉《第六调》，尽管有密码功能，他的孩子还是能够轻易地绕过“青少年模式”。甘说，“当有害内容在网上随处可见时，你不能只依靠‘青少年模式’来解决这个问题，作为家长，也不可能一直监督他们的使用。”

With the growing popularity of short video apps, there have been concerns over the excessive use of them and their impact on young users. A 2022 report by the China Internet Network Information Center said that nearly 40% of teenage internet users encountered “unhealthy and negative information”.

随着短视频应用的日益普及，人们对短视频应用的过度使用及其对年轻用户的影响感到担忧。中国互联网信息中心2022年发布的一份报告称，近40%的青少年互联网用户遇到了“不健康和负面信息”。

Over the years, academic experts and analysts have criticized video platforms for ignoring the flaws in their operating systems, though industry insiders claim that a shortage of content tailored toward teenage users has posed an additional challenge. While urging for regulatory efforts to be ramped up, some experts also warned that excessive curbs could backfire.

多年来，学术专家和分析师批评视频平台忽视了其操作系统的缺陷，尽管业内人士声称，为青少年用户量身定制的内容短缺带来了额外的挑战。一些专家在敦促加大监管力度的同时，也警告说，过度的限制可能会适得其反。