There are many lessons learned from the bottomless gambling traffic, so why are there still people willing to take the risk of fraud?
To punish “black traffic”, the monetization chain needs to be cut off
Only by making it harder and harder to monetize counterfeit goods, making it impossible to easily reopen with another account or platform, and making it impossible for black businesses that rely on deception and confrontation to gain traffic to be monetized and completely lose their value, can new absurd incidents be contained.
"The delivery boy was beaten and humiliated by consumers" was staged; "A blind girl was hit while walking on a blind path and was scolded" was staged; recently, the frequently searched topic "A man stopped helping female students because of their extravagant lifestyle and was urged to donate money" also received a reversal and was confirmed to be self-directed and self-acted. The Jiayuguan City Public Security Bureau issued a police information report, confirming that the incident was forged by the person involved, and the case is under further investigation.
The law has drawn a sword against this chaos, but the bad effects have already been caused. Although this kind of "black traffic" plots are being renovated, the routine is the same: find a social issue that is easy to stimulate emotions, arrange several characters with clear stances, create a conflict that can make people angry, sympathetic or quarrel, and then convert emotions into traffic and profits.
In recent years, relevant departments have continued to carry out special rectifications against bottomless gambling traffic, and the platform has also continued to improve its rules. A number of fake and malicious marketing accounts have been investigated and punished. Why are there still people who are willing to take the risk of counterfeiting despite a lot of lessons learned?
After all, it is still profitable.
For ordinary users, the closure of an account means that the previous accumulation has almost returned to zero. But for professional traffic producers, the account itself may not be the most important asset. The exposure, fan growth, advertising sharing, live broadcast diversion, and product conversion brought about by a "hot item" may all generate revenue. Especially when there is a team operation and account matrix behind it, if an account is blocked, it does not necessarily mean that the business will end.
This is also one of the crux of the difficulties in curing "black traffic". In the Internet era, false content can spread quickly, and fact checking and liability determination often require a process. Some accounts take advantage of this time gap to complete attracting fans and monetizing before the truth is found out. By the time the content is deleted and the account is closed, part of the commercial value generated by the traffic may have been realized.
Therefore, to control the "black traffic" industry, it is urgent to cut off the entire chain from content production, dissemination and amplification to commercial realization.
In fact, in recent years, relevant governance has begun to shift from “managing content” to “managing interests.” For accounts that violate regulations such as false photo-taking and malicious marketing, measures have been taken to suspend profit-making permissions, cancel advertising revenue, close rewards and cash withdrawals, and clean up illegal growth of fans. For MCN organizations and multi-account linkage speculation, related management is also being strengthened.
To go further, “management of interests” needs to be made more precise.
The most basic thing is that the benefits brought by illegal traffic cannot be realized normally. For content that has been determined to be maliciously fabricated or staged to provoke war, the platform must not only delete the content and restrict accounts, but also verify relevant advertising shares, creative incentives, live broadcast diversion and other income in accordance with laws and regulations; any illegal gains involved shall be dealt with in accordance with the law. There cannot be a situation where the content has been determined to be illegal, but the income can still be settled as usual.
In addition, the governance objects should also move from “accounts” to “people”.
For operators who deliberately fabricate major false facts, repeatedly stage social conflicts, and instigate group confrontation for profit, if they just close the accounts involved, it is easy to fall into a cycle of "blocking one and replacing another." In the management of online anchors, there are already regular and institutionalized practices such as blacklists, warning lists, and restrictions on violators by changing accounts and restarting broadcasts on the platform. Similar real-name related punishments can also be explored for serious violators of professional production of "black traffic". For operators with serious violations and who refuse to change despite repeated admonitions, they can be restricted from re-opening accounts with functions such as public communication, live streaming, and rewards within a certain period of time based on the degree of violation, and their qualifications for profit-making and commercial cooperation can be suspended, thereby making counterfeiters pay a deeper price.
If there is team planning behind a false event, then the planning agency, signed MCN, and associated accounts should all bear corresponding responsibilities. Otherwise, close an account today and change the persona tomorrow; if you can't stay on this platform, switch to another platform, and "black traffic" will still have room to survive.
Of course, there must be limits to severe punishment. Ordinary factual errors and inappropriate expressions are not the same in nature as organized and premeditated fabrication of plots, provoking confrontation, and taking advantage of opportunities to make profits. Whether to implement more stringent related punishments should comprehensively consider the subjective intention, number of violations, scale of communication, social harm and degree of profit-making, and set up corresponding appeal, review and time limit mechanisms. Only when the standards are clear can punishment be both powerful and credible.
In the final analysis, the harm of "black traffic" is no longer just the creation of a few fake news. It has become increasingly adept at exploiting real social conflicts and splicing them into false stories of conflict. These fictional stories have entered hot searches, triggered large-scale discussions, and even occupied public sector verification and disposal resources, consuming the attention and trust of the entire society.
To control "black traffic", we still have to settle this account in the end. Only by making it harder and harder to monetize counterfeit goods, making it impossible for counterfeiters to easily re-open on another account or platform, and making it impossible for black businesses that rely on deception and confrontation to gain traffic to be monetized, and completely lose their value, can new absurd incidents be contained.
