A netizen views a performance by two web hosts on Douyin, a Chinese short video platform. Photo: IC

China's National Radio and Television Administration announced measures for strengthening management of Chinese short video platforms to build a clean and healthy online environment and prevent juveniles from becoming addicted to short videos.

The administration in Beijing held a meeting on Wednesday to address the issue, emphasizing the need for authorities to supervise short video platforms and implement comprehensive measures such as improving the quality of content supply, regularizing permission for access, and providing professional training for content creators.

These measures mainly aim to promote the healthy development of short videos, achieve quality improvement and upgrading, and create a more favorable online audio-visual environment for the healthy growth of minors. 

In recent years, short videos have not only become an important part of daily internet use for adults but also a popular form of entertainment for juveniles. According to a national study of juveniles' internet use in 2021, 47.6 percent of underage netizens frequently watch short videos on different platforms, as reported by guancha.cn.

Although most of the short video platforms have set up the mode specially for minors, which can remind and guide users to take the initiative to use it through system pop-ups and other ways since March 2019 when the system was launched by the Cyberspace Administration of China, it is not difficult for children in practice to bypass the platform's special model by using elder identity information.
 
A survey on the issue found that more than 70 percent of juvenile internet users believe it is necessary for video platforms to have a system for minors.

Experts in the field of education have also highlighted the issue of short videos' influence on youth. Xiong Bingqi, director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, called for policies and regulations from the government, as well as increased supervision and guidance from parents.