Some merchants specifically sell fake short-video scripts, and some internet celebrities attract traffic by concocting "viral" short videos and complete traffic monetization through livestream selling.

Exposing the "painted skin" of fake short videos requires penetrating regulation.

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In recent years, fake short videos that sell sorrow, fabricate family and social conflicts, and release false information on hot news have appeared from time to time. Experts suggest clarifying the legal boundaries of staged short videos, while platforms should strengthen self-supervision.

Pushing, shoving, grabbing, spraying cars with paint, verbal abuse... On March 15, a conflict incident caused by an "emotional dispute" took place at an intersection in Jinjiang District, Chengdu. In the video, several young men and women were fiercely quarreling and scuffling beside luxury cars, with many onlookers nearby, and the related video spread rapidly online.

On March 17, the Jinjiang District Branch of the Chengdu Public Security Bureau issued a notice stating that the conflict incident was jointly planned, fabricated, and filmed by six employees of an automobile sales company together with employees of an automobile leasing company, and the video was then disseminated to online platforms. The police notice stated that the act seriously disrupted public order, and those involved were given administrative penalties.

In January this year, a short video of a woman with a pregnant belly seeking a spouse in a park in Chongqing was exposed; what appeared to be a "true account" was in fact self-directed and self-acted. Why do fake short videos appear frequently?

A fake video concocted in 7 minutes

The Statistical Report on China's Internet Development shows that as of June 2023, the number of domestic short-video users was about 1.026 billion. The huge user scale generates massive amounts of information and may also cause negative public opinion to ferment rapidly.

In August 2023, a video titled "Female food delivery rider breaks down crying by the roadside after her vehicle is stolen" attracted attention online.

Police investigation found that there was no local police report matching the content of the "food delivery rider's vehicle stolen" video, and the woman had previously appeared in multiple videos under different identities, including a "beautiful passenger" fought over by two motorcycle taxi drivers and a "mother" taken to prison by her daughter in the middle of the night. The woman later admitted that her food delivery uniform was purchased online, and that the video took less than 7 minutes from preparation to filming.

Zhang Youlang, associate professor at the School of Public Administration and researcher at the Capital Development and Strategic Research Institute of Renmin University of China, said: "When false content proliferates, people's trust in media and information sources will gradually decline. In addition, intentionally produced fake videos may, through false advertising and fraudulent marketing, also cause financial losses to consumers."

In recent years, with the rapid rise of short-video platforms, the threshold for producing and publishing short videos has been relatively low, providing soil for the breeding of fake short videos. Some internet users exploit the public's curiosity and other psychological tendencies, using staged fake short videos to gain and grow followers, ultimately achieving the purpose of traffic monetization.

Xie Yongjiang, executive director of the Internet Governance and Law Research Center at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, believes that fake short videos lead to conflicts between commercial interests and the public interest. "Staged content that creates thrills or grabs attention, without clear labeling, misleads the public, and the public opinion it triggers will harm the public interest."

Fake short videos form an industrial chain

In 2023, the public security organs of Liangshan, Sichuan, investigated and handled the "series of internet celebrity livestream selling cases" represented by "Liangshan Mengyang," "Liangshan Aze," "Zhao Ling'er," and others. Recently, the People's Court of Zhaojue County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, pronounced the first-instance verdict in the cases of "Liangshan Mengyang" and "Liangshan Aze," and 8 people were sentenced for the crime of false advertising.

In 2018, a girl named "Liangshan Mengyang" became popular online. In her short videos, she claimed that her parents had both died, that she had dropped out of school to care for her younger brother and sister at home, and that life was hard... The short-video account gained more than 3 million followers in just a few years. After becoming popular, "Liangshan Mengyang" began frequent livestream selling.

However, some netizens who visited the site found that "Liangshan Mengyang's" parents were not only alive, but the earthen house in the videos was also staged. Local law enforcement investigators found that many of the "Daliangshan specialty agricultural products painstakingly purchased from villagers" sold by "Liangshan Mengyang" in her livestream were not actually produced in Liangshan. As the local police investigation deepened, a gray industrial chain of manufacturing and selling fakes—building personas, fabricating content, e-commerce operations, and traffic monetization—surfaced.

The reporter found that on some e-commerce platforms, some merchants specifically sell short-video scripts involving sentimentality, family, and social conflicts. A short-video operator said that they build personas for clients according to the industry, and can not only provide clients with plans and teach them how to shoot and produce, but also achieve precise monetization.

In July 2023, the Notice on Strengthening the Management of "Self-Media" was issued, explicitly requiring that when "self-media" publish content containing fictional plots or dramatized performances, website platforms should require them to mark fictional or dramatized labels in a conspicuous manner.

"Many short videos are clearly staged but are not labeled as required. On the one hand, this may be because many people do not know about this new regulation; on the other hand, some deliberately blur the boundary between staged and authentic recording to attract traffic," Zhu Wei, deputy director of the Communication Law Research Center at China University of Political Science and Law, told the Workers' Daily reporter.

Clarify the legal boundaries of staged short videos

Some people, out of a gambling mentality, take risks when producing and publishing short videos. Others wonder: filming short videos inevitably requires planning and staging, so where are the legal boundaries of staged short videos?

Zhang Youlang believes that when discussing the limits of staged short videos, several factors should be considered: first, the purpose—whether it is for entertainment, education, publicity, or recording; second, moral and legal standards—if the staging in a short video involves false advertising, misleads viewers, or infringes on the rights of others, then it is inappropriate or even illegal; third, social and cultural norms—different societies and cultures hold different views on what constitutes acceptable staging, and creators need to consider how their content fits these norms.

To achieve effective regulation, Zhang Youlang further suggested clearly defining false content, clarifying corresponding legal responsibilities, and specifying penalties for violations. Short-video platforms should be required to strengthen self-supervision and implement content review mechanisms. Platforms should develop and use AI and machine learning tools to automatically identify and label possible fake videos, helping reviewers and users identify problematic content more quickly. Finally, users should also be encouraged to participate in oversight, for example by reporting false or harmful content to platforms through reporting functions.

"Governance of the chaos of fake short videos cannot rely solely on individual creators to label them. Platforms can establish supervision and reporting channels; once traces of a script are found, they can require verification, and before verification the work should not be given more traffic," Zhu Wei believes. In addition to account publishers, registrants, users, actual controllers, and especially MCN agencies and associated accounts should also be included in the scope of regulation to achieve penetrating regulation.

Xie Yongjiang said that short-video creation should adhere to bottom lines, not harm the public interest, and not infringe on the interests of others. If it exceeds the boundaries, it lacks legitimacy, and relevant departments need to take certain measures to regulate and eliminate such negative effects, including labeling, depriving creators and publishers of the benefits obtained thereby, and in serious cases, imposing public security penalties.