Tianjin municipality passed newly revised regulations on the protection of rights and interests of minors on Sept 27, which stipulates that the government, society, schools, and families should protect the legitimate interests of minors online.

According to the revised regulations, online product and service providers shall establish and improve measures to prevent online addiction, shall not provide minors with products and services that induce addiction, promptly modify content, functions or rules that could cause minors to become addicted and announce relevant information on the prevention of internet addiction on a regular basis.

Providers of online content, including games, live broadcasts, audio and video, social networking platforms, should create a “youth mode” for the services they provide. The availability, duration, functions and content for minors shall be set in line with relevant regulations and standards. Service providers shall also provide management functions in terms of time period, authority, and consumption for the guardians of minors.

In recent years, with the rise of the online live broadcast industry, some minors have given impulsive donations to content providers, causing damage to their physical and mental health.

Users of online products and services must use their real names and are prohibited from asking for gifts or donations from minors, according to the regulations. They shall not encourage minors to participate in online fundraising, voting, ranking, and reviewing.

Minors under the age of 16 shall not be allowed to work as online live broadcast hosts, and those who reach the age of 16 but remain under the age of 18 must obtain the consent of their guardians before doing so.

Online education products and services targeting minors shall not include links to online games, and shall not include pop-up information such as advertisements and other irrelevant information.

The regulations will take effect on Nov 1, 2022.