A photo shows sexualized content on Kwai. Photo: Weibo.

A chain of short videos posted on China's popular short-video sharing community Kwai has recently become the center of criticism after igniting Chinese netizens' ire for clearly showing content sexualizing young primary school girls. 

The videos were first pointed out by a Chinese film critic in her article named "Pedophiles on Kwai." In the article, the writer pens her observations about the platform, saying that it tolerates some highly questionable content, including young girls of primary school age dancing in sexy clothing to sexually suggestive music. 

Comments such as "cute" and "attractive" left by a netizen calling himself "uncle" can be found under these types of videos. This has led to speculation about whether these posts have captured the attention of pedophiles and whether these children's parents are using their children to gain public attention. 

Netizens dug out more related content soon after the article went viral online. Some netizens said that such videos were mainly posted under two main categories: singing and dance practice. In these videos titled "So sweet" or "So seductive," young girls dressed in crop tops and miniskirts can be seen mimicking sexy dances popularized by K-pop girl bands. There are also videos of girls dressed in tight leotards doing classical dancing movements such as waists bends and leg splits with the help of their male family members such as their grandfathers.

"Ill-intentioned design! Do you not feel awkward when the man helps the girl with dance practice, even if he is family?" posted one netizen on Chinese media review site Douban. 

"'Seductive' as a title? Are these parents illiterate or do they just want to harm their children?" commented another. 

Under such videos were even more outrageous comments such as "Dance with your top shirt off" and "I'll wait until your 14." 

"I can't imagine what kind of parents these poor girls have. The sad fact is that children do not always know they are being hurting by someone," Xuexue, a 33-year- old mom, told the Global Times on Monday. 

"This is the reason I worry about my girl a lot, especially not that she is at a rebellious age. As a dad, I worry about evil-minded people on the internet. You need to be strict and forceful with your child about this, no matter if they like it or not," Peng, a 43-year-old father, told the Global Times on Monday. 

Sexualizing children, especially girls, is questionable behavior that is criticized worldwide. For instance, Netflix's 2020 production Mignonnes was widely criticized for portraying a group of young girls as too sexy for their age. 

As many of these inappropriate videos have been reported by netizens, the short video sharing platform Kwai has banned some accounts that post such content. 

On Thursday, the platform announced that recently a total of 2,340 illegal accounts, 12,951 illegal videos and 7,163 illegal comments have been removed. The announcement shows renewed focus to clean up and crack down on pornographic and vulgar content involving minors.

"Banning such accounts is not sustainable; the root of the issue is the sick mentality of the parents. What's their incentive to exploit their children in this way? This can be very complicated and not just a matter of money, some of them may also have shadowy life experiences and need help too." Ling, a parenting relationship expert, told the Global Times on Monday.  

Global Times