Nationwide campaign launched to bolster online protection of minors

China's top cyber regulator, the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, launched a four-month nationwide campaign on Monday to strengthen the protection of minors online.

The campaign — targeting harmful artificial intelligence-generated content, sexual exploitation, privacy violations, excessive consumption and algorithm-driven addiction — will be carried out in two stages and will require online platforms to take greater responsibility for content involving minors, according to the news release.

The first stage, focusing on the summer vacation, will address risks throughout the production, distribution, interaction and marketing of online content to create a safer digital environment for children during the holiday period, the release said.

Authorities will target the use of AI to distort classic cartoon characters or amplify violent and frightening elements, as well as content encouraging dangerous behavior, such as suffocation challenges.

The campaign will also crack down on accounts that sensationalize children by promoting staged videos depicting truancy, aversion to studying or a "lying flat" lifestyle.

In online interactions, the authorities will target individuals who use offers of friendship to trick minors into sending private photographs, as well as groups that distribute pornographic comics or other illegal content under the guise of animation-related benefits.

Other targeted practices include posting sexually suggestive emojis or coded expressions under videos featuring minors, offering "summer gaming companions" to lure children into sexually suggestive chats, and operating online forums that expose minors' personal information or provide paid harassment services.

Marketing practices will also come under closer scrutiny. Businesses will be prohibited from recruiting minors as underwear "product testers" or encouraging them to take sexually suggestive photographs.

The campaign will also address online scams that lure minors into making advance payments, and services that provide AI face-swapping technology or teach children how to bypass facial recognition checks.

The second stage will focus on information that may harm minors' physical and mental health and will strengthen regulation in three areas: recommendation algorithms, educational content and online modes designed for minors, according to the release.

Platforms will be required to improve recommendation systems and must not design algorithms that encourage internet addiction or excessive consumption, it said.

Functions such as "people nearby" or "people you may be interested in" must not be used to steer minors toward inappropriate social interactions.

Platforms will also face stricter requirements for reviewing classic children's animations and content labeled as early education.

In addition, the frequency and duration of videos featuring children should be reasonably limited and accounts must not repeatedly feature minors under the pretext of sharing educational experiences to attract traffic or make profits.

The authorities will examine whether minors' modes on platforms have adequate identity verification for entering and exiting, and whether they contain functions that encourage tipping, voting or rankings.

App stores will be checked for harmful or age-inappropriate applications in sections designed for minors.

Special attention will also be given to children's smartwatches, including harmful content in chat and input functions, third-party applications that induce spending and the distribution of illegal or inappropriate information.

An official with the top cyberspace regulator stressed that local authorities should closely track emerging online risks involving minors, strengthen enforcement and hold platforms accountable for violations.