Platforms must get to grips with who’s who of short videos

In a recent online fraud case, a woman in her 60s said that Jin Dong, a famous actor, had been romancing her online, which had created frictions in her family.

Jin’s studio soon released a statement saying that neither he nor anyone authorized by him had ever contacted her. They said that any unauthorized accounts are false.

It was later found that someone had falsified a profile photo of Jin, made short videos under his identity, and won the woman’s trust. In this way, the woman had fallen victim to fraud.

The case is not the only one of its kind. A glance at online short video platforms will show that there are more than one Jin on them. There are also multiple people claiming to be Jack Ma and other celebrities, of which some have accumulated many followers. They all try to win the trust of elderly people so that they can persuade them to buy their low- quality products at high prices.

In other words, they are swindlers targeting senior citizens.

Many elderly people have a smartphone and they just need to download an app to watch short videos. However, unlike younger adults, they do not appreciate that the short videos are also produced by scammers as well as legitimate content producers and they may easily fall prey to the wiles of those trying to trick them into parting with their money.

Some short video platforms tend to be lax in clamping down on such cheating because the false accounts often mean higher data flow and in turn higher profits. However, it should be noted that fraud is fraud even on the short video platforms, and it is not only immoral, but also illegal.

Some defend the false accounts on short video platforms by saying that they are a form of freedom of speech. But they are not. They are claiming to be a person they are not with the sole purpose of parting people from their money. The false accounts make profits at the cost of the whole of society and must be curbed.

It is time stricter measures were introduced to regulate short video platforms, and end the chaos.