In recent years, online short videos have become the main way of entertainment for the public. The rapid development of related industries has led to new formats such as e-commerce live broadcasts. However, it has also given rise to all kinds of chaos. Some anchors do not hesitate to resort to fraud and fabrication in order to attract fans and attract traffic. The facts attracted attention, caused great negative social impact, and even violated legal red lines. Recently, the police in Leshan City, Sichuan Province investigated a case in which a short video blogger fabricated facts and spread false content.
Recently, some "domestic violence" videos have appeared on a short video platform that have worried many netizens, including "robber logic, robbing children", "ex-husband who has been divorced for several years comes back to fight for custody of his son", etc., which are eye-catching. With the titles and scenes of domestic violence, these videos quickly attracted a large number of attention and comments from netizens. Many people expressed concerns about the personal safety of the women in the videos and called on relevant departments to help. This so-called "domestic violence incident" also attracted the attention of the police in Leshan City, Sichuan Province.
Zhang Wenchi, Director of Maoping Police Station in Ebian Yi Autonomous County, Leshan City, Sichuan Province: In late January 2024, the Ebian Internet Security Brigade pushed a clue to a suspected Internet rumor to our police station. The clue was a video from a certain online platform. Link, click on the link and it will show that she is a single divorced mother with four children, living a difficult life in our jurisdiction. It also shows that the woman’s ex-husband’s family came to her door many times in order to fight for the custody of the children and the family property. He threatened the woman and committed some illegal acts such as beating, intentional injury, robbery, etc. Many netizens left messages while watching the live broadcast, why didn't you call the police? Why are there no police to take care of it? Many netizens have great doubts and worries about our local security situation.
In order to find out the truth as soon as possible, Leshan police immediately launched an investigation. After verification, the incident in the video occurred in a village in Ebian Yi Autonomous County, Leshan City, Sichuan Province. When analyzing these videos, the police saw some unusual details.
Zhang Wenchi, Director of Maoping Police Station in Ebian Yi Autonomous County, Leshan City, Sichuan Province: When we watched the video for the first time, it showed that the woman was harassed many times by her ex-husband and his family members while living with her children. The illegal acts included beating, robbing, and threatening to push people off the cliff and kill them. However, the state of the woman shown in the video showed obvious signs of acting, and there were many people selling goods interspersed in the process. At the same time, combined with the fact that we have not received any relevant alarms recently, we highly doubt that this series of videos is artificially fabricated.
In order to further confirm whether the situation in the video in this account actually happened, the police went to the relevant places mentioned in the video to conduct visits and investigations.
Zeng Zhaoyong, instructor of Maoping Police Station, Ebian Yi Autonomous County, Leshan City, Sichuan Province: After watching the relevant video, we went to the place where the video took place to conduct on-site visits and investigations. Through interviews with people around the video (location), the people said that this place is fundamentally No criminal behavior as circulated in the video occurred.
compiled the script of "Harassed by her ex-husband" and performed it through live broadcast.
After an investigation, the Leshan police found that the "domestic violence" situations posted by the online blogger "Yi Xin Yi Tang" did not exist, and the "single mother was harassed by her ex-husband" in the video "The incident is likely to be deliberately fabricated and false. So who shot these videos? What is the real situation?
Leshan police confirmed through investigation that the blogger who posted the content about being "harassed by her ex-husband" on the short video platform was local resident Wu Moumou, and she was also the protagonist in the video. The police immediately summoned Wu Moumou for investigation.
Zhang Wenchi, director of Maoping Police Station in Ebian Yi Autonomous County, Leshan City, Sichuan Province: found that Wu Moumou’s usual state was completely inconsistent with that in the video. In the video, she was dressed in ragged clothes and living in difficulty, but she was open to herself in life. The private car and the clothes are relatively fashionable, and they do not look like the hard and difficult life they show.
Liu Fengjie, a police officer from Maoping Police Station in Ebian Yi Autonomous County, Leshan City, Sichuan Province: Wu Moumou is married and her husband works in other provinces. This is inconsistent with her live broadcast content where her ex-husband brought his mistress back to fight for her custody. Her behavior was inconsistent with threats, and she also admitted that she was not beaten or threatened during the live broadcast, which more fully demonstrated that the content of her live broadcast was fabricated.
According to Wu Moumou's confession to the police, in order to improve the living conditions at home, she and her sister and friends compiled a script of "being harassed by her ex-husband" and performed it through live broadcast. The purpose was to win the sympathy of netizens and thereby obtain attention and traffic.
Police investigation found that Wu Moumou has been live broadcasting relevant content almost every day since October 2023, and the number of viewers of each live broadcast can reach tens of thousands. These fictional contents not only attracted a large number of netizens who did not know the truth. After paying attention, many people bought the products recommended by Wu Moumou in the live broadcast room out of sympathy.
In response to Wu Moumou and others deliberately fabricating and disseminating false information and disrupting social order, Leshan police, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the "Public Security Administration Punishment Law of the People's Republic of China", imposed administrative penalties on Wu Moumou and three others who shot the video.
A complete profit-making operation model is formed behind the "selling misfortunes"
The girl with "tragic life experience" lives a strong life, but behind the "moving story" is a well-made script; "original ecological agricultural products sold under the banner of "helping farmers" ”, which are actually purchased at low prices from the wholesale market. The reporter's investigation found that behind a series of "Internet celebrities" live streaming selling misfortunes, falsely assisting farmers and other illegal activities, a complete profit operation model has been formed. Among them, except for bloggers like Wu Moumou who worked alone, In addition, some mcn organizations have become the masterminds behind it. They create "dismal selling" Internet celebrities in batches to attract fans and attract traffic, and make profits through live broadcasts to bring goods. The blogger in the
video is called "Liangshan Mengyang". Among the more than 500 videos she posted, what impressed her fans the most is that her family is poor and her brothers and sisters live together in a dilapidated adobe house. Going up the mountain to cut firewood means going down to the fields to do farm work. According to the police in Liangshan, Sichuan, "Liangshan Mengyang" attracted a large number of fans on a short video platform with his poor and impoverished character. After becoming popular, "Liangshan Mengyang" began selling so-called "Daliangshan specialty agricultural products" live, but Because the products are not consistent with the place of origin, as well as product quality and other issues are constantly complained by consumers, these situations have attracted the attention of local authorities.
Yuan Zengping, deputy detachment leader of the Network Security Detachment of Liangshan Prefecture Public Security Bureau: Our investigation in the agricultural, rural and forestry departments found that snow swallows are mainly produced in Yunnan and Myanmar, and safflowers are mainly produced in Iran. Liangshan is not the place of origin, but Meng Yang During the live broadcast, it was said that these products are special agricultural products from Daliang Mountain.
In May 2023, the Liangshan Market Supervision Department launched an investigation into the false behavior of Internet celebrities such as "Liangshan Mengyang" who used the banners of "helping farmers" and "original ecological products" but actually sold non-local agricultural products. Later, it was discovered that "Liangshan Mengyang" was suspected of false propaganda and other illegal activities, and the case was transferred to the public security organs for further investigation.
After receiving the clues, the Liangshan police quickly set up a task force to investigate. The police discovered that "Liangshan Mengyang" had engaged in illegal activities such as false propaganda, and the amount of money involved was large. Further investigation by the police on the task force found that in March 2021, "Liangshan Mengyang" signed a contract to become an online anchor under a media company in Chengdu. Under the packaging and instigation of the company boss Tang, "Liangshan Mengyang" began to present himself as "poor" People are selling so-called "Daliangshan specialty agricultural products" in the live broadcast room.
Wang Hu, instructor of the Legal Affairs Brigade of the Public Security Bureau of Zhaojue County, Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province: During the investigation of our case, we discovered that a criminal gang headed by Tang purchased snow swallow safflower and other products not produced in Daliangshan at low prices from Yunnan and Chengdu. commodity. The purchase price of snow swallow is 35 yuan per kilogram, and the sales price is more than 200 yuan. The purchase price of safflower is about 5,500 yuan, and the external sales price is about 16,500 yuan.
On June 12, 2023, after obtaining conclusive evidence, Liangshan police took criminal coercive measures against "Liangshan Mengyang" and others in accordance with the law.
Gained millions of fans with the false persona of "The Lonely Girl in the Mountains"
According to the Liangshan police, Internet celebrity "Liangshan Mengyang" whose real name is Axi Moumou. In the early days of the Internet's popularity, she used "selling misery" to create a tragic image , won the sympathy of a large number of netizens with the fictional plot of "both parents died and struggled hard". She once had nearly 4 million fans on a short video platform. So what is the actual living situation of "Liangshan Mengyang"?
During the investigation, the police found that "Liangshan Mengyang" cried more than once in the live broadcast room and complained about his "tragic life experience" that his parents died and he had to drop out of school to take care of his younger siblings at home, which moved countless netizens.
Su Jie, Captain of the Network Security Brigade of the Public Security Bureau of Zhaojue County, Liangshan Prefecture: The living conditions of "Liangshan Mengyang" presented in short videos and live broadcasts have long attracted the great attention of the Zhaojue Public Security Bureau. We are visiting and investigating It was discovered that in the early years, her family had enjoyed various benefit policies provided by government departments, and their living conditions had been greatly improved.
With the image of "a lonely girl in the mountains", "Liangshan Mengyang" moved many netizens for a while, quickly became popular and attracted a large number of fans. However, after the police visited and investigated, they found that all the life experiences of "Liangshan Mengyang" on the Internet were false and fabricated. .
Asiro Yi, the branch secretary of Jiqu Village, Bier Town, Zhaojue County, Liangshan Prefecture: The (main) source of income in our village is breeding and planting. Mengyang’s family is in pretty good condition, with more than 100 sheep. There are also five or six horses, a few cows, pigs, chickens and everything else. Her parents are very healthy and work and herd sheep every day.
In response to "Liangshan Mengyang"'s false propaganda and other illegal activities on the Internet, the relevant authorities in Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province interviewed her many times and asked her to stop illegal activities, but she did not listen to dissuasion and continued to go her own way. .
Su Jie, Captain of the Network Security Brigade of the Public Security Bureau of Zhaojue County, Liangshan Prefecture: The cabin where "Liangshan Mengyang" lives in the short video is actually a long-abandoned farmhouse in the village. Every time during the live broadcast, Meng Yang will Wearing shabby clothes and then deliberately making herself unkempt mainly makes netizens believe that she has a heavy burden in life.
Yuan Zengping, Deputy Captain of the Network Security Detachment of Liangshan Prefecture Public Security Bureau: What she often says in the live broadcast is, don’t give me gifts. You use the money you give me to buy products, which is equivalent to supporting a lot of us here. uncles and aunts.
"Liangshan Mengyang" and others were sentenced for false advertising
With the in-depth investigation of Liangshan police, a line from the front-end creation of "tragic" characters, incubation of Internet celebrities, to the mid-end compilation of content, filming of false plots, and e-commerce operations , then to the back-end supply of agricultural products, and then the gray industry chain of counterfeiting and selling has emerged. Recently, the People's Court of Zhaojue County, Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province pronounced the first instance verdict on the "Liangshan Mengyang" and "Liangshan Aze" cases. Eight people were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from 9 months to 1 year and 2 months for false advertising.
According to police investigations, since 2021, Tang Mou, the head of a cultural media company in Chengdu, and others have created "Liangshan Mengyang" with more than 3.8 million fans on the short video platform by writing scripts, false staging, etc. " and "Liangshan Aze" with 500,000 fans.
Luo Qianfei, instructor of the Food, Drug and Environmental Investigation Team of the Public Security Bureau of Zhaojue County, Liangshan Prefecture: In addition to the daily operations of the company, Tang and Li are also looking for samples of mountain products throughout Chengdu. After they have found them, they will be run by Li and the company. Personnel Guo brought mountain products to Liangshan, where he looked for local villagers with a relatively simple image, and then hired these villagers as actors at prices ranging from 30 to 100 yuan. The main method was to hand over samples of these mountain products to the villagers and use the Internet to Hong started a live broadcast, pretending to go to a fellow villager's home to buy mountain goods. In the process, he started a live broadcast to bring goods. Some fans questioned the authenticity of mountain goods. They also hired online trolls to guide consumers, and all the so-called mountain goods bought by fans were Shipped from Chengdu.
Liangshan police investigation found that since March 2021, the gang has purchased agricultural products such as snow swallows, safflowers, fritillaries, and morels at low prices from Chengdu, Kunming and other places, and then "helped them" under the banner of "Liangshan local specialties". Using banners such as "agricultural" and "original ecology", consumers are deceived into purchasing through online live broadcasts.
Recently, the People's Court of Zhaojue County, Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province pronounced the first instance verdict on the "Liangshan Mengyang" and "Liangshan Aze" cases. A total of 8 people were sentenced for false advertising. Among them, company leader Tang Mou was sentenced to 1 year and 2 months and fined 100,000 yuan; Internet celebrity Asi (screen name: Liangshan Mengyang) was sentenced to 11 months and fined 80,000 yuan; Internet celebrity A A certain person (online name: Liangshan Aze) was sentenced to 9 months in prison and fined 40,000 yuan.
Liangshan disposed of 457 illegal accounts in 2023
It is reported that since Liangshan Prefecture of Sichuan Province launched the "Special Action to Strictly Censor Self-Media Chaos" in 2023, a total of 457 illegal accounts were disposed of, including 75 accounts related to "false aid to farmers". Fifteen accounts such as "Liangshan Mengyang", "Zhao Ling'er" and "Qubu" were permanently closed, including 5 accounts with more than 2 million followers.
Improve industry standards and strengthen platform supervision
According to the 53rd "Statistical Report on China's Internet Development", as of December 2023, the number of short video users in my country reached 1.053 billion, accounting for 96.4% of the total Internet users. Today, short video It has become an important part of people's daily life, and more and more people obtain information, entertainment, shopping, etc. by watching short videos. Today, as short videos and live broadcasts become increasingly popular, how to put an end to illegal activities such as short video fraud and live broadcast sales, and maintain the clarity of online space and the rights and interests of consumers, has become an urgent problem that needs to be solved.
A reporter’s investigation found that in January this year, a short video of a woman with her pregnant belly proposing for marriage in a park in Chongqing was exposed. It seemed to be a “true story” but was actually directed and acted by the blogger. There were also “forced blind dates by adoptive mothers” and “ Videos such as "Mother-in-law in Hospital Eating Instant Noodles" fall into this category. With the frequent occurrence of short video fraud, live broadcast misfortune and other chaos, false information and fraudulent behaviors are spread on the Internet, seriously harming the Internet ecology.
Liu Xiaochun, Executive Director of the Internet Law Research Center of the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: When people watch short videos, it is indeed a fragmented time consumption. In this process, a type of emotional (short videos) represented by selling misery, It may be easy to appeal to the emotions of the audience. Experts at
believe that the main reason why Internet chaos such as "fake and sell misfortune" has been "copied" and spread in large numbers is the drive to monetize traffic. In addition, "fake and sell misfortune" can be copied with little difficulty, and related behaviors are in violation of regulations. , The cost of breaking the law is low, and some people do not hesitate to commit repeated offenses.
In response to these chaos, the Cyberspace Administration of China will launch a special campaign this year called "Clear and Clear, Censoring False and Vulgar Chaos in the Field of Online Live Broadcasting", in which the use of staged scenes and other methods to create content that "pretends to be poor" and "shows misery" to attract attention is One of the outstanding issues to be addressed. Experts at
suggest that while the relevant authorities are intensifying their crackdowns, online platforms should also fulfill their responsibilities as information content management entities and adopt measures such as ecological management and real-time inspections of online information.
Liu Xiaochun, executive director of the Internet Law Research Center of the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: is about establishing a corresponding overall governance mechanism for the platform, such as smoothing the channels for complaints. Especially for those with relatively large traffic and relatively bad impact, we should attach great importance to them. From the perspective of consumers and users, if you find any doubts, you should actively report them to maintain the health of the entire ecosystem.
Experts believe that "counterfeiting and selling misfortune" is not just a farce on the Internet. It is essentially a false propaganda, fraudulent and illegal act. Relevant practitioners should not test the bottom line of the law and the public. In addition, both relevant authorities, Internet platforms, and short video producers and publishers should assume corresponding social responsibilities and return a clear cyberspace to the public.
