Xinhua Insight: Webcasting catches eyes, draws criticism in China

A Chinese webcaster's extreme methods to garner attention have drawn heated criticism and opened debate regarding the increasingly chaotic live-streaming industry.

On October 4, Jiang Bo, who lives in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, live-streamed his adventure to sabotage a wasp's nest. He fell into a coma and was put into an intensive care unit in a nearby hospital after suffering 37 stings.

His video was viewed more than 15,000 times on Kuaishou.com, a live-streaming site where he is a registered member. Jiang's account is Qiaoge, translated as dab-handed brother. Other videos he has aired are just as sensational and include instant-freezing a salamander and frying a cigarette lighter.

The wasp-sting victim has reportedly been webcasting for three months and he makes about 3,000 yuan per month from streaming the videos.

"Many webcasters have exhausted their means to court people's attention, even risking their own lives. Acts like this are morbid," said Gao Yongwei, a commentator with Chongqing Evening News.

As mobile internet becomes cheaper for the Chinese, live streaming has become increasingly popular. Entertainment shows, sports games and computer games are the most common live feeds. One only needs a smartphone and an account to make a live show and interact with viewers.

Jiang's failed stunt has become a topic for discussion on social media, receiving over 260,000 views on Weibo, a twitter-like blogging service.

"Many internet celebrities count on sensational news to create impact, but they do not bring any inspiration or entertainment to the viewers," said a comment on Weibo.

EXPLOSIVE GROWTH

Starting in 2014, webcasting and live streaming have grown at explosive rates.

According to Iresearch, an online research company, China has more than 200 websites for live broadcasting, with a market value of 9 billion yuan. Total users exceed 200 million. Larger platforms operate 3,000 webcast rooms every day.

Liu Xinzheng, vice president of Miaopai, a video-sharing company, says that webcasters make money from contracts with websites.

"Famous webcasters can pocket millions because they are able to gather a large number of viewers," he said. "Online broadcasters also make money from virtual gifting by followers and fans. A thumb-up costs 10 cents, and a virtual yacht is worth 500 yuan."

"Webcasting is ballooning into huge business and has attracted generous financiers. It is a promising market, but there is underlying chaos," said Wang Sixin, director of the Internet law and intellectual property rights research center at the Communication University of China.

"Pornographic, vulgar and low content abound," he warned.

CALLS FOR SUPERVISION

Content for live-feeds are often the subjects of wildest imagination: binge-drinking, eating light bulbs, or even suicide attempts.

In 2014, a webcaster named Kaka cut her wrist in a live webcast. Her account was suspended, but it was quickly resumed. In 2016, thousands of viewers watched a group of webcasters fist-fighting during an outdoor entertainment show, live-streamed on Huya.com, a popular video website.

"Webcasting should not be simply profits-driven. We need to control and remove the vulgar content and develop more quality content," said Lyu Benfu, director of the web economy research center with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

In July, the Ministry of Culture said it had punished a number of companies for hosting obscene, violent or illegal content on the Internet.

In total, 4,313 live feeds on 26 websites run by 23 companies were shut down and another 16,000 live-feed rooms were ordered to rectify their practices, the ministry said, adding that the companies had been forced to terminate contracts with 1,502 online performers.

Douyu.com, which broadcast a live sex show in January; 6.cn; panda.tv; and nine other companies were ordered to cease or remove illegal content that was deemed obscene, violent or to have encouraged netizens to break the law.

Eleven other companies were punished for publishing live broadcasts without permission from the cultural department. Endi