Social media and livestream platforms have exploded, painting a glamorous picture of an industry that supposedly makes money easily. Job offers promising tens of millions of dong, flexible hours, and quick chances to change your life have become perfect traps targeting young people. Even more alarming, these “recruitment hunts” focus on underage girls, children still developing awareness, vulnerable, and desperate to earn money to prove themselves.

A recent investigation revealed a harsh truth: behind the colorful lights of livestream rooms lies a sophisticated exploitation system. Girls as young as 16, even under 16, are forced to wear revealing clothes and call the top gift-giving “rich brothers” their “husbands” to please them. Meanwhile, their wages are shredded by the platform and company operators, often deducted entirely for missing just a few seconds of streaming. Promises of quick income vanish like soap bubbles.

The “Ghost” Contract

The main subject of the investigation, Mu Yao, just turned 16 and is from Chukou, Henan Province. After dropping out of high school, Mu Yao searched job apps for work. She was drawn to a receptionist position at a local cultural media company offering a guaranteed basic salary of 4,000 yuan (about 15 million VND), with promises of earning tens of thousands more if she performed well.

Knowing her parents would strongly oppose, Mu Yao hid the job from her family for over two months. But the trap snapped shut as soon as she entered the office. Recruiters sweet-talked her into becoming a streamer instead of a receptionist. They painted an easy money picture, while the receptionist role didn’t actually exist. To cover up for her family, the company coached Mu Yao to lie and say she was still working as a receptionist.

According to Chinese law and community standards, anyone under 18 is banned from registering livestream accounts. Especially those under 16 cannot participate in such e-commerce activities. To cover this up, the company gave Mu Yao a Momo account verified with an adult’s ID so she could stream without worry.

“At that time, the company only sent me an internal rules sheet. I never signed any labor contract or cooperation agreement in writing,” Mu Yao shared. The company didn’t even check her ID card, and all communication between staff and streamers used online nicknames to erase legal traces if problems arose.

Cruel Rules: “Miss a Few Seconds, Lose Your Basic Salary”

To earn the fixed 4,000 yuan salary, streamers had to broadcast at least 26 days a month, six hours a day. The rest of their income came from a percentage of gifts from viewers. But after over two months of streaming, Mu Yao only received one month’s salary, a meager 2,000 yuan. The reason was the ruthless time control system and unreasonable excuses from management.

Mu Yao angrily explained that if she streamed less than six hours any day, even by a few seconds, the system marked that day as “invalid.” If she didn’t accumulate 26 valid days in a month, she lost the entire 4,000 yuan basic salary and only got a small commission from gifts, usually between one to two thousand yuan for newcomers. Even on days with high viewer interaction, management would claim “poor mental state” to cancel that day’s work without reason.

After streaming six hours, the girls weren’t allowed to rest. The company forced them to stay an extra 40 minutes to an hour to “poach big spenders.” This meant entering rival streamers’ rooms to find wealthy accounts (“number one brother,” “top list brother”) and message them to lure gifts.

Behind the Screen: Forced Revealing Clothes, Calling Viewers “Husband,” Daily Phone Checks

The industry’s moral decay shows in the content demands and how underage girls must entertain guests. Yinuo (a pseudonym), another 16-year-old caught in this scheme, revealed the horrifying truth:

“We weren’t allowed to wear normal clothes. The company forced us to buy and wear their supplied outfits, which were very revealing to attract attention,” Yinuo said.

In chat rooms, viewers were often vulgar and sexually harassing. The company demanded the young streamers accept this without resistance. To keep viewers engaged, streamers had to change topics every 30 seconds. Silence in the room meant fines.

For big spenders, the girls memorized flattering scripts. “No matter who or how old they were, we had to call them ‘husband’ anytime to please them and then ask for expensive gifts.”

Even after logging off, exploitation continued. The girls had to message and video call these “brothers” to maintain relationships. Many men made crude advances. To control this, the company confiscated and checked the streamers’ phones daily to scrutinize chats. If a paying client wanted to meet, the company forced these underage girls to dine with them in person.

Although the company’s office was in Chukou city (Henan), livestream IPs always showed locations like Suzhou, Nanjing, or Shanghai. The company said they changed IPs to richer economic zones where “big spenders” were more willing to shell out money.

Exhausted physically and mentally from begging strange men for gifts, Yinuo quit after just over a month. The company then refused to pay her any wages, claiming she “quit without a month’s notice.”

The Company’s Shameless Defense

When confronted, the company’s manager gave shameless excuses, showing legal knowledge but deliberately exploiting loopholes. He claimed the company didn’t withhold wages but only “temporarily held” them because streamers quitting caused training costs. He insisted the relationship was “cooperation and revenue sharing,” not employment, so no labor contracts or labor law obligations applied.

After complaints and evidence surfaced, the Labor Supervision Bureau of Xuanhui District, Chukou city, launched an official investigation. Under government pressure, on June 3, 2026, the company agreed to a mediation agreement and returned part of the unfairly deducted wages to the underage victims.

Financially, Mu Yao and Yinuo got some relief, but the emotional scars and distorted views on money after months of “calling customers husband” remain deep wounds. The livestream industry is not the promised land of roses as advertised online. Strong action from labor authorities, cyber security, and especially strict family supervision and education are the best shields to protect these young blossoms from ruthless corporate predators.

According to Sohu