On the 39th day after Zhou Zhe’s death, "Office Xiao Ye" officially resumed the video update. And Zhou Zhe’s life, forever fixed at the age of 14.
On August 22nd, Zhou Zhe and Xiaoyu, two girls in Zaozhuang, Shandong Province, imitated the short video released by online celebrity, and exploded when they made their own popcorn in household cans, killing one person and injuring another. Zhou Zhe’s family said in an interview with the media that the two girls used their mobile phones to watch a short video of "Pop-can Homemade Popcorn" posted by online celebrity called "Office Xiao Ye" in Tik Tok.
Zhou Zhe’s death has aroused great public concern. The responsibility of family members, "Office Xiao Ye" and short video platform has become the focus of hot discussion. The "Office Xiao Ye" team reached a settlement agreement with the families of the two girls by paying aid. After the accident, Zhou Zhe’s family also contacted the Tik Tok platform, hoping that the other party would be responsible for the consequences of its poor supervision. "But they shirked that they are customer service and can’t manage this matter." Zhou Zhe’s father told reporters.
Zhang Shiwen, a lawyer of Shanghai Huiye Law Firm, said that bailout money is an economic subsidy provided by one party to the other for humanitarian reasons, not a legal definition. The party providing the aid is not necessarily at fault. The compensation is usually the money paid by the responsible party to the injured party.
Today is the 49th day of Zhou Zhe’s death. By the end of July, Zhou Zhe’s family didn’t wait for compensation, only "relief money". No one admitted responsibility for Zhou Zhe’s death except Zhou Zhe’s parents.
Although the short video of "Pop-can Homemade Popcorn" released by "Office Xiao Ye" has been removed from the shelves in Tik Tok, when the reporter searched on other short video platforms with related keywords, it was found that there are still similar videos spread without safety tips.
The question that the public cares about is: Can Zhou Zhe’s death bring about changes? How to avoid the recurrence of tragedies in the future?
Chen Tangfa, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication of Nanjing University and a scholar of media law, believes that the platform party should do its duty to remind the spread of short video content with obvious risk or probability of injury on the premise that minors constitute an important component of its users. In addition, he suggested that the relevant departments should increase their legal obligations to short video uploaders. "Short video producers should be required to give necessary explanations on the possible dangers of their videos and how to avoid them."
Traceability:
Two underage girls imitated "pop-can homemade popcorn", one died and one was injured.
On August 22, 14-year-old Zhou Zhe and 12-year-old Xiao Yu exploded while making popcorn in household cans.
In an interview with the media, Zhou Zhe’s family said that the two girls watched a short video of "Pop-can Homemade Popcorn" posted by online celebrity called "Office Xiao Ye" on Tik Tok on the same day, so they also learned to make popcorn. The first time alcohol was ignited, the corn did not turn into popcorn, and after alcohol was poured again, it exploded.
Both girls were burned to varying degrees. Among them, 14-year-old Zhou Zhete was severely burned to 96% and died on September 5.
This incident has aroused public concern. Regarding who should be responsible for the accident, Zhou Zhe’s family believes that the family members are responsible, but the video publisher "Office Xiao Ye" and the platform Tik Tok are also responsible. They have proposed to sue the video publisher and the short video platform.
"Office Xiao Ye" responded in Weibo, saying that Zhezhe’s and Xiaoyu’s accidents were by no means imitating their own videos, but they were willing to provide whatever help they could for Xiaoyu’s follow-up treatment and Zhezhe’s family, and would continue to launch strict self-examination, permanently removing all videos with potential security risks from their accounts on the whole platform.
According to the Beijing News, representatives of the "Office Xiao Ye" team went to Zaozhuang, Shandong Province on September 16th to meet and discuss with Zhou Zhe and Xiaoyu’s family members. The two sides agreed not to consider the division of responsibilities, but only to talk about how to deal with the aftermath. Later, on 17th and 18th, the "Office Xiao Ye" party reached a settlement agreement with Zhezhe and Xiaoyu’s family one after another, giving them a one-time aid.
Zhang Shiwen told reporters that aid money is common in reconciliation and mediation mechanisms. "From a legal point of view, the party providing the aid is not necessarily at fault, and the amount is not specified."
Zhang Shiwen also mentioned that according to the law, compensation is usually paid by the responsible party to the injured party, "that is, the responsible party damages the interests of others in the course of its behavior and pays the injured party in cash, in kind and other material ways. The calculation method of compensation will have a corresponding legal basis and the amount is usually greater than or equal to the losses actually suffered by the injured party (such as property losses, personal injuries, etc.). "
Less than a month after the signing of the settlement agreement, "Office Xiao Ye" took the lead in restoring the video update of Weibo’s account on October 14th. Subsequently, it was resumed and updated on today’s headlines, watermelon videos, WeChat WeChat official account, volcano videos and platforms such as bilibili and Tik Tok.
The reporter tried to contact the two parties about the content of the agreement. Zhou Zhe’s father said that when signing the agreement, he had promised the other party not to disclose the settlement information. The "Office Xiao Ye" party failed to give the reporter’s WeChat application, and Weibo and WeChat WeChat official account did not reply to their private letters about the interview.
Regarding the prosecution of the Tik Tok platform mentioned earlier, Zhou Zhe’s father told reporters that the matter has been handled. When he signed a settlement agreement with "Office Xiao Ye", he agreed not to pursue their responsibility with the Tik Tok platform. "I can’t break my promise and can’t pursue it again."
According to Peng Dingdai, a professor at Nanchang University Law School, there are three types of subjects who should bear the responsibility in this accident. One is the guardian of the minor who has no ability to distinguish and control certain things, that is, the parents of the victim; The second is the producer of the video. As an adult, he should expect others to imitate his video, which is likely to lead to danger, so he should give safety tips in prominent parts of the video. The platform for video distribution is the third party that needs to be responsible.
"The platform should fulfill its obligation to censor videos containing bad information, including those that are dangerous, lead people to commit suicide, pornographic, etc." As for the specific responsibility, Peng Dingdai said that evidence is needed in law.
Phenomenon:
Short video imitation causes casualties or public security incidents from time to time.
A Jian still has a scar on his right eyelid, which was left after he failed to imitate an action challenge short video called "double somersault".
This is an action that needs to be completed with friends, that is, two people stand face to face, one person bends down and puts his hands out from the middle of his legs; The other person grabs his outstretched hands and flips them up 180 degrees. If he succeeds, he will finish riding his waist, and if he fails, he will be injured.
Two years ago, when the short video was just on fire, A Jian liked to watch some creative, spoof and interesting videos. After watching many short action videos, he chose some actions suitable for challenging with his friends and successfully completed them many times. A Jian told reporters that he also watched a lot of highlights of the failure of such action challenges. "I feel that I have no problem and I can do it completely."
Unexpectedly, failure came. When challenging "double somersault" with a new friend, the other party used too much force when turning up, and the direction was not accurate. His forehead suddenly hit Ajian’s glasses. "The glasses burst on the spot and his eyes could not be opened."
Recalling the scene at that time, A Jian was scared in his heart. "Fortunately, it is not serious, otherwise his eyes may be blind."
A Jian’s injured right eye and cracked glasses (photo courtesy of the client)
The reporter then searched and found that the video of "double somersault" can still be seen on many platforms, and some of them have added a warning that "this behavior is risky, please don’t imitate it easily", but there are still more videos not attached. Such casualties or public security incidents caused by imitating short videos have occurred many times in all parts of the country.
According to Hubei Jingshi, last year, a father in Wuhan also failed to challenge his two-year-old daughter to "double somersault", and missed when he flipped 180 degrees upwards, resulting in the child’s head landing, serious spinal cord damage and inability to move his upper body.
Also last year, "Live Hainan" reported that three children in Ding ‘an County, Hainan were injured by firecrackers because they imitated the live video of fast hands to make "Mountain Pig Cannon"; The Legal Evening News reported that an 8-year-old boy in Xi ‘an, Shaanxi Province, imitated the video of Tik Tok’s "sticky tape on the door", causing his 6-year-old brother to fall and be covered in blood.
According to Weibo, the official of Shaoshan Public Security Bureau, Hunan Province, two men who had drunk were driving their motorcycles home, so they imitated a short chat-up video and blocked a lady on the road. After the police arrived at the scene, the two men also pushed and insulted the police. Finally, the two were sentenced to administrative detention for 20 days respectively.
According to Zhang Shiwen’s analysis, video publishers generally have a mature operation team and a huge fan base. Short videos are widely spread on the Internet as soon as they are issued, and video viewers lack professional guidance when imitating short video content, which is more likely to be dangerous.
Behind:
Netizens imitate short videos and have frequent accidents. online celebrity earns considerable income by realizing traffic.
The "Xiao Ye in the Office" in the incident of "Girl Imitates Homemade Popcorn and Dies" was hailed as the first online celebrity in 2017. She became popular on the Internet with her brain-opening food videos. Her representative works include cooking hot pot with a water dispenser in the office, roasting fat beef with an iron, and spreading pancakes in the box.
With its huge traffic, "Office Xiao Ye" realized the realization of revenue and performed well in entering overseas platforms. According to a special report in The China Journal, she ranks first in the number of fans in China, a YouTube platform. Previously, NoxInfluencer, a platform for analyzing YouTube’s online celebrity data, announced the income of YouTube in online celebrity: the monthly income of advertising alliance in office Xiao Ye is 4.59 million, and the annual dividend is expected to be 55.08 million.
However, Nie Yangde, CEO of Xiao Ye’s Onion Video, once told the media that the data is not true, but Xiao Ye’s income on YouTube is indeed considerable.
When the reporter browsed the Tik Tok platform, he found a short video producer "Wanzi Mo" who is as creative as "Office Xiao Ye". She has more than 8 million fans and was certified as "creator of quality life field" in today’s headlines.
In the video, the self-made barbecue grill, juicer, etc., the sharp objects such as wood saws, chainsaws, sickles, etc. are still visible, and several videos browsed randomly by reporters have no step descriptions and safety risk tips, so users, especially minors, are prone to accidents when imitating.
In the name of business cooperation, the reporter consulted the company where "Wanneng Zimo" is located, and the other party replied to an October business price publication.
In the example, the reporter saw that in a short video platform, the company’s 11 IP accounts have different charges for business promotion according to the total number of fans, the total number of works and the total number of likes. In the promotion of 0-20 seconds, the "hand price" ranges from 7800 yuan to 108000 yuan, and in the range of 21-60 seconds, the price ranges from 9000 yuan to 180000 yuan.
In this network era, everyone can be a online celebrity, and it can be a fire in minutes. For users, in addition to watching these videos released by online celebrity, many ordinary people also want to pick up their mobile phones and shoot videos to get more likes and onlookers.
At this time, imitatable content is more likely to stimulate users to spread. In particular, fun, interesting, novel and even curious movements, dances and plots are all elements that users prefer to imitate. These conditions are often linked to their traffic and are easily recommended by the platform and become explosions.
The short video platform quickly gathers users of the same kind by challenging, bringing topics, bringing labels, etc., so the popular short videos such as "splashing water into ice" and "ice drift" are all dangerous, the former may be scalded, and the latter will lead to drowning.
According to media reports, in the first two days of this year, there were three drowning accidents caused by driving on the ice in Shanxi, Tianjin and Heilongjiang.
The reporter searched for "splashing water into ice" under the "topic" column of Tik Tok platform and the "tag" column of Aauto Quicker platform, and found that there were 9,388 videos under the topic of the former platform, with a broadcast volume of 240 million times, while there were 219 works in the tag of the latter. The reporter randomly browsed several videos on the two platforms and found that there were no security risks.
After the girl passed away imitating homemade popcorn, the related videos have been removed from the Tik Tok platform. However, when the reporter searched on other short video platforms with related keywords, he found that there are still similar videos without safety tips.
Expert:
The short video platform needs to consider both economic and social benefits.
Accidents happen frequently when imitating short videos. Why are there still many video contents with hidden risk factors in major short video platforms?
Chen Tangfa believes that this is because the iron law of market economy-"high risk must be accompanied by high return" is also reflected in the pursuit of Internet content. "The curse of’ traffic is king’ urges network service providers to ignore content security intentionally or unintentionally, and’ risk’ can become a’ selling point’."
After such accidents, short video platforms have repeatedly fallen into controversy. Tan Tian, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication, Jinan University, said that the platform has the responsibility to regulate and explain such videos with security risks and involving technology.
"Office Xiao Ye" once said in an apology that he was reminded by a private letter from @ Chengdu Public Security Fire Brigade Guan Wei before he realized that there might be security risks in the video. Later, they added dangerous operation tips to videos that thought there were hidden dangers. "Now it seems that such tips are far from enough." She wrote.
Tan Tian told reporters that for this kind of online celebrity who has reached a certain number of fans, the greater the traffic, the greater the social responsibility, and their every move will have an impact. "online celebrity is not aware of this (safety hazard) problem, and the platform side should strengthen supervision."
Peng Daiding believes that maintaining a civilized, clean and green network environment is not only a legal responsibility, but also a social responsibility for platform operators.
"(The platform side) can’t just be an indicator of profit, but should assume corresponding social responsibilities and consider economic and social benefits as a whole."
With the rapid development of short video industry, chaos followed. From the recent death of "girls imitating homemade popcorn" to the collective praise of underage mothers before, from eating raw pork to using "dirty jokes" and other eyeballs, strengthening supervision has long been a public concern.
The government level has responded one after another. The relevant regulatory authorities have talked about the short video live broadcast platform many times, asking it to further improve the mechanisms such as content review and release, security policy management, and use the correct values to guide the algorithm to create a clean and honest cyberspace for the majority of netizens, especially teenagers.
On January 9th this year, China Network Audiovisual Program Service Association issued two industry specifications, namely, Management Specification for Network Short Video Platform and Detailed Rules for Auditing Standards for Network Short Video Content. The requirements for the network platform are higher, the standards for content audit are stricter, and the platform management is more operational.
In order to prevent minors from indulging in short videos, since April this year, the National Network Information Office has guided short video platforms such as "Tik Tok", "Aauto Quicker" and "Volcano Video" to pilot the online anti-addiction system for teenagers.
For the supervision of short video platforms, Peng Daiding believes that the platform itself can pre-audit the video content by using automatic identification and other technical means, while for those whose technical audit can not meet the requirements, it is necessary to invest some funds to strengthen manual audit.
Tan Tian suggested that the platform should set certain standards for the uploaded video content, and any citizen can report any violation of the standards. In terms of manual audit, he said that the platform can mobilize netizens or relevant experts and scholars to set up professional committees.
"Some of them can be handled by algorithms and machines, and some of them can’t be handled. They must be manually reviewed. Is there anything wrong with the content and whether there are any security risks? Will it induce young people, especially those with large fans and traffic, and they need manual review. (These) can’t save trouble, and the platform user base is large, so it is necessary to strengthen the responsibility. "Tan Tian said that if the manual can’t judge, you can hire relevant experts to judge." Some hidden danger experts can see the problem, such as those involving fire, and need fire experts to look at it. "
Chen Tangfa suggested that relevant departments need to increase their legal obligations to short video uploaders. "Short video producers should be required to make necessary explanations on the possible dangers of their videos and how to avoid them. This explanation should be regarded as an important element for uploading short videos, otherwise, no matter whether actual injury incidents occur or not, they will be held accountable."
The second is to strengthen the actual effect of user reporting. That is to say, if the content reported by the whistleblower is really dangerous, the administrative fine for investigating the responsibility of the platform will be rewarded to the whistleblower according to a certain proportion, and it is indeed a combination of "everyone’s responsibility" and "everyone’s benefit" to truly implement the network governance principle of group prevention and group governance by legal means.