"Only after two dances, 60 subscriptions have been increased, and there is no 'living person' anymore", roast when Tiger Teeth anchor A interacted with fans.
Recently, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily learned that several Hu Ya anchors who were previously suspected of performing pornography were still dancing in the live broadcast room, and some anchors appeared to be assisting in sleep, but in reality, their clothing was revealing, making imaginative sounds. According to an investigation by Beijing Business Daily reporters, it is also common for anchors to suggest that fans can obtain large-scale content by brushing gifts. According to netizens, he rewarded a certain anchor with a "magic book" and received over 1000MB of video materials.
Starting from the fourth quarter of 2021, Huya's quarterly revenue has been continuously declining, with the main live streaming business's revenue declining by 32.2% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024. Although edge performance is strictly prohibited in the "Regulations on Violation Management of Huya Anchors", and the platform's reminder of 24-hour inspection of live content also appears in every live broadcast room, it is difficult to say whether there is some "tacit understanding" between the repeatedly banned anchors and the platform due to the platform's revenue pressure and the subtle relationship between anchors, platforms, and fans.
Fans and anchors who love and kill each other
"It's the end of the month, robbery!" When anchor A was dancing in the live broadcast room, the live broadcast screen was suddenly cut off.
Anchor A, who has over 1.5 million fans, is the second entertainment anchor in Huya's 2024 overall selection. During live broadcasts, she often wears cool clothes and her dance moves include but are not limited to shaking her breasts, pulling on her underwear, etc. These are all strictly prohibited sexual suggestions and pornographic performances in the "Regulations on the Violation Management of Huya Anchor". Her live broadcast room was exposed a month ago, but now she is still updating video updates, previewing live broadcasts, and performing edge dancing.
At the same time, D, who has over 400000 followers, and C, who has millions of followers, were also exposed, and their Huya live broadcast room is also in a normal state.
In each live broadcast room, there is a story about the top ranked guy and the host, and the relationship between the host and fans is often based on the amount of money they receive as a reward. "I found you all very realistic," said anchor N, who had over 300000 fans. After repeatedly asking for gifts from her fans without success, she sighed, "I only wore this dress for a while yesterday, and you don't like to see it anymore. I'll change it later." A few minutes later, she appeared in the live broadcast room wearing a new outfit, and the comments in the comment section became noticeably active. In order to thank the fans who rewarded her during her live broadcast wearing old clothes, anchor N specially doubled the reward for this fan.
It is not new for fans to post sensitive or impolite content in the comment section. When encountering such situations, each anchor's reaction is different, no wonder they are rigid or ignored. But if there are any violations, regardless of the level of fan base, the anchor will almost always change from a gentle little milk voice to a high octave.
"I'm really crazy", when the live broadcast was cut off, anchor A was emotional. One minute later, the screen resumed and she showed her fans the page where she was found to have violated the rules and the reasons. Then, in the comments section, she cursed the content of the platform and live broadcast room administrators and began to "build buildings". Or please fans with the platform, or roast about the platform with fans, and the anchor often changes "camp".
Beijing Business Daily reporters have also encountered sudden absence of footage in other live broadcast rooms of Huya on multiple occasions. The live broadcast room showed that "the anchor's content is suspected of violating regulations and is under rectification", and it was signed by the Huya Live Super Management Team. After one minute, the live broadcast screen returned to normal.
Due to the violation, anchor A would rather chat. According to her, she was deducted several thousand yuan per month, and "the average person's salary is not that high.".
Many times, even if the host knows they will be deducted money, they will take risks. More often than not, the anchor is clearly performing on the sidelines, and users complain and report to the platform, but the live broadcast room is not greatly affected.
Mysterious punitive measures
According to the July 2023 version of the "Huya Anchor Violation Management Measures", serious violations by anchors include spreading obscene and pornographic information, directly or indirectly (including guiding to other social media) spreading obscene and pornographic information, or engaging in obscene and pornographic performances. Broadcasters generally violate regulations and minor violations, including displaying or subtly displaying various content with sexual implications and teasing.
According to the "Regulations on the Management of Violations by Huya Anchors", if a broadcaster commits serious violations (Class A), the platform has the right to immediately stop live streaming permissions, restrict mobile phone number broadcasting, restrict device broadcasting functions, deduct 100% commission for the current month, and other penalties. For anchors who engage in general violations (Class B violations) and minor violations (Class C violations), the platform has the right to impose penalties such as warning, freezing commissions, deducting commissions, interrupting live streaming, and restricting live streaming functions based on the severity and number of violations.
However, Huya did not disclose the specific duration of stopping or interrupting live broadcasts in the above-mentioned management measures. The authenticity of the 300 yuan penalty amount has been verified by a Beijing Business Daily reporter with relevant personnel from Huya. As of the time of publication, the other party has not responded.
Each live streaming platform will impose behavioral constraints on the hosts. Take Tiktok as an example, it has produced several issues of announcements or publicity about combating pornographic and vulgar content.
According to the relevant publicity of Tiktok in December 2023, since July 2023, Tiktok Live has punished 2018800 accounts involved in pornographic and vulgar behaviors through identification, interception and post investigation, and recovered the live broadcast rights of 332300 accounts with serious violations, including 109700 direct broadcast use rights indefinitely.
The "Code of Conduct for Internet Broadcasters" jointly released by the State Administration of Radio and Television and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in June 2022 stipulates that broadcasters are not allowed to display content with sexual implications or provocations, such as clothing, makeup, language behavior, or live broadcast room scenery.
According to the regulations, online performances, online audiovisual platforms, and brokerage institutions are required to strengthen warnings and constraints on online anchors who engage in illegal behavior; For network anchors with serious problems, repeated problems, and persistent teaching, their accounts should be banned, and relevant network anchors should be included in the "blacklist" or "warning list". It is not allowed to broadcast again in the form of changing accounts or platforms.
Lost users
The latest financial report shows that in the first quarter of 2024, Huya Live's mobile MAU (monthly active users) was 82.6 million, more than 500000 compared to 82.1 million in the first quarter of 2023, but less than 2.9 million compared to 85.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. In the first quarter of 2024, Huya had 4.4 million paying users, an increase of 100000 from 4.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, but a decrease of 800000 compared to 5.2 million in the first quarter of 2023.
The loss of users and major anchors has been a persistent problem for Huya. How many anchors, such as Zhang Daxian, will leave due to the chain reaction of their successful Douyin?
Many of the remaining anchors also have their own "careful thinking". It is standard for anchors to display their account names on other platforms on their personal pages and live broadcast screens, and it is also a way to maximize their talents on the same platform. Beijing Business Daily reporters have found that many anchors can play games in the live broadcast room, as well as dance and outdoor anchors.
The diversification of user entertainment methods is no longer limited to entertainment in game live streaming, exacerbating the difficult situation of game live streaming platform transformation. There are also some niche live streaming types on Huya, such as ASMR for sleep assistance.
According to public literature, ASMR, also known as spontaneous perceptual meridian response, is a pleasurable tingling sensation that occurs on the scalp and neck, and then spreads throughout the body. For example, watching others intentionally do relaxation actions such as massaging or combing their hair, or listening to soft sounds (whispers, tapping sounds).
When searching for the keyword "sleep aid" on Huya, there are many people who use the banner of sleep aid, suspected to have pornographic implications. Some anchors define the above content as a lullaby, where a female anchor dressed in revealing clothes appears on the screen, whispering softly or making various sounds through props.
From a technical perspective, Wang Qinglin, the manager of Ruidaheng Research Institute, told Beijing Business Daily reporters: "The difficulty of audio review and investigation is greater because the technology and review mechanism are not mature, and there is no clear illegal mechanism yet. Dialects are difficult to recognize, and machine recognition is more difficult. There are many sound effects that need to be combined with specific images and scenes for review." Since audio review is difficult, can we judge whether there are violations based on the anchor's clothing, actions, and voice during live streaming? "This method still has the problem of standard setting, many of which are manually reviewed," said Wang Qinglin.
According to the latest version of the "Regulations on the Violation of Hosts by Huya", it is strictly prohibited for broadcasters to imitate relevant voices. According to netizens, they have repeatedly reported to the Huya platform about live streaming rooms with the above-mentioned problems, but have not received any feedback.
Public information shows that as early as 2018, the National Office for Combating Pornography and Illegal Publications had interviewed several website leaders, demanding a strong cleaning up of ASMR content related to pornography and vulgar issues, and strengthening the supervision and review of related content. This is not the only regulation by relevant departments on such issues, and broadcasters are increasingly "hiding".
Some anchors do not "help sleep" at the beginning of the broadcast, but start the broadcast as the game anchor and the anime anchor, and then "help sleep" until late at night. Others do not publicly broadcast the collection on their personal web pages, nor upload videos and pictures. It is difficult to judge the type of the anchor and whether the live content is marginal from the anchor's avatar and profile alone.
In order to "cover up", anchors generally do not explicitly state in the live broadcast room that "gifts can be sent in private videos" or "gift dancing". Some will hint to fans in the comment section, and some will set the above information in the form of pictures or other settings on both sides of the live broadcast room screen. When the reward reaches a certain level, fans can also enter the anchor's exclusive fan group or add the anchor's personal contact information.
A platform that wants to transform
"When fans give tips on the platform, the anchor will be divided. Establishing their own community is more convenient for the anchor's operation. If the anchor changes jobs, their core fans will not be lost." Bida analyst Li Jinqing told Beijing Business Daily reporters, "This is the same as the private domain traffic of e-commerce."
According to a survey conducted by a reporter from Beijing Business Daily, a magic book worth 99 tiger teeth coins can generally be given as a reward for dancing or receiving "sleep aid" videos. The specific gift level is linked to the anchor's fan base. According to the redemption ratio of the Apple App Store, a magic book is worth about 140 yuan, and if rewarded through an Android terminal, a magic book is worth 99 yuan.
According to the disclosure provided by netizens, after tipping a sleep aid anchor with over 500000 fans a magic book, he obtained the anchor's fan group account and a total capacity of over 1000MB of pornographic suggestive video content.
"On the day I gave the tip, a total of 9 people were pulled into the group," the netizen told a Beijing Business Daily reporter. The anchor would remind "three more and better", "five of the top and permanent updates can also add private V", and "magic books can be accumulated".
The "Regulations on Violation Management of Huya Anchor" clearly states that anchors directly or indirectly (including directing to other social media) disseminate obscene and pornographic information, perform obscene and pornographic acts, or live stream games containing pornographic content; Inducing users to join fan/welfare groups that spread vulgar and pornographic content, including QQ accounts, QQ groups, WeChat accounts, WeChat groups, QR codes, etc., constitutes a serious violation (Class A violation).
This is the anchor management method updated by Huya in July 2023. In the same year, Huya was fined 30000 yuan and confiscated illegal gains of 590.5 yuan by the Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism for providing online performances that contained harmful social morality content.
In addition to fines, the industry is more concerned about Huya's personnel and strategic adjustments during this period, which is seen as a key signal of Huya's determination to transform.
In May 2023, Tencent Vice President Lin Songtao became the Chairman of Huya, bringing a new strategic direction to the company. In August, Huang Junhong, Senior Vice President of Huya, and Wu Xin, Vice President of Finance, jointly served as Acting Co CEOs of Huya, continuing to drive the implementation of the company's strategy. According to Lin Songtao's "three-year plan", the aim is to promote a shift in commercialization focus by providing more game related services, such as game distribution, game prop sales, and game advertising.
The "Tiger Billion Plan" launched in April 2024 is also related to gaming, with plans to cultivate over a thousand industry-leading anchors and collaborate on over 5000 high-quality gaming projects over the next three years. As for the current data on the number of active users in non gaming businesses, as of the time of publication, relevant personnel from Huya have not responded.
When game live streaming platforms are in trouble, comprehensive video platforms continue to increase their support for game live streaming, encroaching on the territory of game live streaming platforms, and constantly competing for people and subsidies.
If we take the performance of the first quarter of 2024 as an example, Huya's revenue was 1.504 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 23.1%; The net profit under non US GAAP was 92.5 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.7%. "Increasing profits without increasing income proves that Huya's operational efficiency has improved, but if it stays in this situation for a long time, it will have a negative impact on the platform's development," said Wang Qinglin.