Quoted a source who’s familiar with the demographics of the dominant short video platform, “users on Douyin are extremely young – younger than you could ever expect.” Facing the existing pressure and escalating criticism of taking a toll on teenagers’ afterschool life, Douyin recently updated its “parent-child platform” function, enabling custodians to “supervise” up to three other accounts with extensive controls over features including tipping and account top-up. Reminiscent of Tencent’s and NetEase’s efforts to curb game addiction, Bytedance, the mother company of Douyin, is also responding to the authorities’ call for responsibility, in providing a purified cyber environment for youngsters.
