The notice on further improving the filing and management of educational mobile Internet applications recently issued by the Beijing Municipal Education Commission and other three departments clearly states that the content provided by educational mobile applications shall not contain negative information, bad information, game links and advertisements; It is not allowed to provide and spread the functions of "taking photos and searching questions" that lazy primary and secondary school students' thinking ability, affect students' independent thinking, and violate the laws of education and teaching.
In the past two years, due to the impact of epidemic prevention and control factors, many children have been taking online classes at home for a long time, and learning apps have also been emerging, becoming an important assistant for children to learn at ordinary times. At the same time, some learning apps have problems such as induced advertising, pornography and violence, which make many parents feel uneasy.
In order to expose the problems and root causes of learning apps, explore ways to rectify and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of minors, the reporter conducted an investigation and interview.
The self-study software downloaded has become a tool for children to make friends and chat; A large number of advertisements have been inserted into learning apps, which not only greatly reduces the use experience, but also has some content related to pornography and violence; Push "free collection" ×××” Activities and so on are suspected of inducing minors to recharge... In recent days, many parents have complained to reporters of the rule of law daily about learning apps.
Many interviewed experts believe that to improve the chaos of learning apps, relevant departments should formulate stricter laws and regulations, refine relevant provisions, let the industry know the importance of minors' education, and remove the atmosphere of commercialization and entertainment.
Chat busy in learning app
There is a miasma in the chat room
Ms. Wu from Cangzhou, Hebei, complained that her son in primary school downloaded an online self-study app in the name of learning, which was very enjoyable. After a period of time, his academic performance decreased significantly. She found that the children did not use the app to learn at all, but chatted. "I experienced this app. Although it has learning function, it is more like a leisure and entertainment app, and the chat room is even more miasma.".
According to Ms. Wu's guidance, the reporter downloaded this app and opened it. It does have many "entertainment" functions: the self-study area is distributed according to different sections, and can design its own image, decorate the simulated classroom, and go to the message wall. In addition to the self-study area, the app also has an activity area and a sleep area. In the chat room in the activity area, users can speak freely.
The reporter randomly entered a chat room called "karaoke room". Four people in the room were chatting in full swing. A boy named "shuishuiyan" put forward the idea of falling in love, and then expressed his love to another girl through the "truth adventure" link. In another 5-person chat room, a boy named "Nanyin" was speaking, swearing profusely, and urging other people present to hurt themselves with him.
"Mengmeng", a junior high school student in Beijing, told reporters that this kind of curse war is more on the message wall of the app. When the reporter came to the message wall, he saw that many people openly scolded here, and their words were very vicious; There are also many people who leave information on it, such as "making friends with me, high-quality boyfriend / girlfriend". On an app screenshot provided by "Mengmeng" to the reporter, a page of more than a dozen private messages were all strangers who wanted to add her as a friend.
"Mengmeng" said that some of her classmates went to the learning app, just punched a card in the self-study room, and went to the chat area and the message wall to "surf the Internet".
According to Zhuwei, deputy director of the communication law research center of China University of political science and law, for learning apps, especially when the users are minors, the platform should provide management services consistent with this, and should not defend with the principle of technology neutrality, which reflects the principle of protecting minors and avoid misuse of functions due to poor supervision.
Chengfangping, a professor at the school of education of Renmin University of China, said that the makers of some learning apps are not education majors. The apps they produce are highly commercial and entertaining, which is not conducive to children's learning and growth. All social parties, including the platform, need to take responsibility and jointly create an environment conducive to the growth of young people.
Link together to induce consumption
Business climate needs to be improved
Inducing consumption has always been one of the most criticized problems of learning apps. On the third-party complaint platform [enter the black cat complaint], many consumers said that they were attracted by the "free course", "one yuan class grabbing" and other promotional messages on the learning app. After clicking on the registration, they found that it was an endless promotion.
The reporter downloaded a learning guidance app and registered as a "sixth grade student". When browsing the "live class" column, the advertisement for the "one yuan quick grab" sixth grade efficient review special training course package was popped up, which was marked with the word "limited quantity". After clicking to enter, there was a reminder of the countdown to the end of the rush purchase.
Just as the reporter was about to exit the advertising page, a prompt popped up when he pressed the back button: "Congratulations, you have obtained a free information package, a list of 0 yuan of knowledge points and synchronized exercises". After clicking on the free collection, the interface will jump to the small program, and a two-dimensional code photo will pop up. The reporter needs to scan the code to add it to get it. After the code scanning was added, the other party sent the reporter free links to three courses and a lottery link. Among the dazzling physical goods, the reporter drew the prize of "26 Video Courses", and the above courses could not be opened at all.
Later, a staff member named "teacher Junjun" invited reporters to join the course group, calling himself a class teacher, and asked students to scan the code for class. After the teacher of the live class explained two problem-solving skills, he began to recommend course products - a learning gift bag from 2098 yuan to 3798 yuan. After class, "Mr. Junjun" immediately contacted the reporter and continued to promote the learning package.
The reporter asked whether he could continue to attend classes for free without buying a learning gift bag? "Junjun teacher" said that he could continue to attend classes for free, but he had to pay for systematic learning. Now there is a discount for ordering a learning package.
The next day, in the course group, "Junjun teacher" repeatedly emphasized the advantages of learning the big gift bag and the great discount. Six "student parents" in the group said they had signed up. Seeing that the reporter didn't respond, "Mr. Junjun" sent several messages to the reporter. First, he told the reporter that the autumn long-term class was on sale today, and there were only 3 courses left. Now, when buying and enjoying the discount, there were also exquisite gifts. Then he sent two pictures introducing the price of the course portfolio, with the price ranging from 2098 yuan to 3996 yuan.
Zhu Wei believes that there are indeed a large number of learning apps that induce consumption. These app developers regard minors as "cash cows" and take advantage of minors' mental deficiency and their parents' mentality of investing in education regardless of cost. Under the guise of "free" and "one yuan rush purchase", they first attract traffic and then induce consumption. This mess needs to be rectified in time.
Chengfangping believes that such a highly commercial marketing method as "one yuan rush purchase" should not be used in the field of education, and relevant departments should regulate such phenomena.
Pornographic advertisements are full of them
Affect the healthy growth of children
"A good learning app is full of junk advertising." Mr. Zhang from Chaoyang, Beijing said angrily. He told the reporter that his family's children often use electronic devices to learn, but some learning apps often pop up various advertisements, such as marketing advertisements and game advertisements. Some advertising pictures or contents are "not suitable for children", which seriously affects the physical and mental health of children.
The reporter randomly searched the mobile application mall with "learning" and "education" as keywords, downloaded nearly 100 learning apps, and found that the problems Mr. Zhang said were common.
For example, a learning app named "rabbit cute children's paradise" displays a variety of small games on the interface, most of which are related to children's literacy and development thinking. When playing these games, if you want to unlock an item or prop, you need to click the advertising button on the viewing icon. The advertisement popped up after the reporter clicked is "making friends in the same city, lonely and about", and the picture is a woman with exposed clothes. Continue to play. The next three are also such advertisements.
In the "baby watch" column of this app, advertisements also pop up when the video is played. You need to watch it for at least 5 seconds to skip. There are many kinds of advertisements. Some recommend pornographic novels, some recommend small programs to make money from bookkeeping, and some claim to receive baby's daily necessities for free. To remove these advertisements, users need to open a continuous monthly subscription member with a price of 39 yuan, an annual subscription member with a price of 198 yuan or a permanent member with a price of 498 yuan.
On the right side of the app's main interface, there is a small blue TV icon. After clicking, the interface will jump to another small program called "Nanya novel". The novel content automatically pushed and displayed is very explicit, including many sexual hints and pornographic passages.
In this regard, Zhu Wei said that China's advertising law clearly prohibits such pornographic and violent advertisements, and the law on the protection of minors also has relevant provisions. Online education network products and services that serve minors are not allowed to insert online game links, nor push advertisements and other information unrelated to education.
Chengfangping said that if the platform puts the commerciality of apps in the first place, this kind of phenomenon will easily lead to, and will become more and more serious, which will seriously affect the physical and mental health of minors. The relevant departments should further strengthen the punishment of relevant phenomena, so that such illegal advertising will no longer appear in the apps used by minors.
Perfect laws and strictly supervise
Join hands to control chaos
How to regulate the chaos of learning apps has become an urgent problem to be solved.
Chuzhaohui, a researcher of China Academy of education, believes that relevant departments should strictly enforce the law in accordance with existing laws and regulations and regulate the responsible subjects of such apps. The platform party shall perform its duties with due diligence, and remove the app from the shelves in time if problems are found, so as to ensure that minors have a good learning environment.
Zhu Wei said that relevant departments should establish and improve the minors' system and youth model, strengthen the protection of minors when using various software at the technical level, and ensure the healthy growth of minors.
Chengfangping believes that to improve the chaos of learning apps, relevant departments should formulate stricter laws and regulations, refine relevant provisions, let the industry know the importance of minors' education, and work together to control the chaos and remove the atmosphere of commercialization and entertainment of learning apps.
"The protection of minors' physical and mental health is not only reflected in the supervision of learning apps, but also should enhance the awareness of the whole society, create a situation of 'everyone shouting at problematic apps' and fundamentally protect minors." Chengfangping said.
□ our reporter handandong
□ our Intern wangyitian