CCTV investigations have revealed that in recent years, an increasing number of student-run self-media accounts are secretly backed by MCN agencies. Mandatory live streaming commitments encroach on study and rest time, and there are even cases where individuals borrow rider uniforms to fabricate sob stories.
Some agencies threaten signed students with hefty penalty fees for breach of contract. In pursuit of trending topics, certain agencies guide students to stage scenes and create content that fuels conflict.
A graduate student signed with an MCN agency stated that they must complete two to three hours of live streaming tasks daily, while also finding time to shoot short videos, often leading to anxiety over fluctuating engagement metrics after posting content.
In the local services sector, some MCNs fabricate tragic stories involving food delivery riders and deliberately portray restaurant owners as helpful figures to attract attention. They then use private messages to direct traffic to private live streams, inducing consumers to participate in gambling on raw jade stones or purchasing jadeite, thereby monetizing the traffic.
According to a representative from a food delivery platform, some individuals even go to delivery stations to borrow rider uniforms for filming short videos.
Interviewed food delivery riders stated that those who diligently focus on delivering orders do not have the energy to produce short videos. Such staged behaviors damage the public image of the rider community.
Previously, Meituan has repeatedly spoken out against such staged performances by riders exploiting sympathy. This type of content, which deliberately creates false impressions of hardship, continuously erodes public goodwill and makes it harder for riders genuinely facing difficulties to receive attention.
Authorities have called on all self-media creators and MCN agencies to prohibit packaging food delivery riders and minors as tools for generating sympathy-driven traffic. They are firmly cracking down on profit-making schemes based on fabricated sob stories. Since 2024, more than fifty related cases have been investigated and handled in collaboration with public security and cyberspace administration departments, with all involved bloggers and agencies facing appropriate penalties.