Regulations on the Protection of Minors Online

📑 Legal hierarchy: Level 2 · Administrative regulation | Enacting body: State Council | Effective: 2024-01-01 | Character: hard law

⚠️ Hierarchy note: This instrument is an administrative regulation of the State Council (Level 2) — ranked second only to NPC laws and above departmental rules. Downstream AI departmental rules (e.g., the Generative AI Interim Measures) directed at minors must route back to this regulation (Article 44, etc.). See Index of Chinese Rules.

English Summary

The Regulations on the Protection of Minors Online (《未成年人网络保护条例》), issued by the State Council on 2023-10-24 and effective 2024-01-01, are China’s first comprehensive administrative regulation dedicated to minors (under 18) online. They operationalize the 2020 amended Law on the Protection of Minors and consolidate prior CAC rules into five pillars: (1) network literacy education, (2) content/product/service governance, (3) minors’ personal information, (4) prevention of internet addiction, and (5) legal liability. For AI, the regulation establishes the legal base for the “minors mode” (未成年人模式) and bans providing services “inducing addiction” to minors — the hook under which later CAC/TC260 guidance on AI companions, generative content, and algorithmic recommendation to minors has been issued.

Overview

This administrative regulation is the upstream authority for China’s governance of minors online. Three key hooks into AI governance:

Network literacy education (Chapter 1): explicit requirements on education about “new technologies such as AI.”
Content / product / service governance (Chapter 2): special duties of algorithmic recommendation, search, and information content vis-à-vis minors.
Personal information (Chapter 3): articulates the rule for minors’ personal information in connection with PIPL Article 31.
Prevention of internet addiction (Chapter 4): time limits, spending limits, and the legal basis for “minors mode.”

Direct Impact on AI

Algorithmic recommendation: Article 22 requires that providers “not push information that may harm the physical or mental health of minors,” more specific than the Algorithm Recommendation Provisions’ duties toward minors.
Generative AI / deep synthesis: Article 21, “shall not produce, reproduce, publish, or disseminate information harmful to minors’ physical or mental health,” applies to AI-generated content; Article 23 imposes additional duties regarding new technologies such as “deep synthesis and virtual reality.”
Minors mode: Article 43 is the direct legal authority for “minors mode,” corresponding to CAC’s 2023 Guidelines for Building the Mobile Internet Minors Mode.
AI companion / virtual-partner products: the “anti-addiction” principle in Article 44 provides upstream legal authority for the 2026-04 Interim Measures for the Administration of AI Anthropomorphic Interaction Services.

Core Provisions (selected)

Article 22 · Restrictions on Algorithms Directed at Minors

网络产品和服务提供者不得利用算法向未成年人推送可能影响其身心健康的信息，不得利用算法诱导未成年人沉迷网络。

— English gloss — Article 22. Network product and service providers shall not use algorithms to push information that may harm the physical or mental health of minors, and shall not use algorithms to induce minors to become addicted to the internet.

Article 23 · Special Provision for Deep Synthesis / VR / AR

网络产品和服务提供者在应用深度合成技术、虚拟现实技术等新技术、新应用时，应当履行保护未成年人合法权益的义务，并采取相应保护措施。

— English gloss — Article 23. When applying new technologies and new applications such as deep synthesis technology and virtual reality technology, network product and service providers shall perform the duty to protect the lawful rights and interests of minors, and shall adopt corresponding protective measures.

→ This becomes the anchor clause for the 2024–2026 series of AI-specific rules on companion products, virtual humans, and face-swap applications aimed at minors.

Article 26 · Minors’ Personal Information

处理不满十四周岁未成年人个人信息的，应当取得其父母或者其他监护人同意。

— English gloss — Article 26. Where the personal information of a minor under 14 is processed, consent of the parent or another guardian shall be obtained.

→ An administrative-regulation-level refinement of PIPL Article 31.

Article 43 · Minors Mode

Requires network product and service providers to offer a minors mode, including time management, permission management, spending management, and content grading.

Article 44 · Anti-Addiction

网络产品和服务提供者不得向未成年人提供诱导其沉迷的产品和服务。

— English gloss — Article 44. Network product and service providers shall not provide minors with products or services that induce addiction.

This is the upstream authority for rules prohibiting “virtual intimate-relationship companions” to minors.

Enforcement

Primary authority: CAC leads; MOE, MIIT, MPS, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, National Press and Publication Administration, NRTA, and SAMR coordinate within their mandates.

Penalty gradient (Chapter 6):

warning, order to rectify, confiscation of unlawful gains, fines;
serious cases: suspension of operations, revocation of permits;
linkage with CSL, PIPL, DSL penalty ladders.

Relationship with Other Rules

Upstream statute: Law on the Protection of Minors (2020 revision, Chapter 5 “Online Protection”).
PIPL Article 31: personal-information dimension.
Guidelines for Building the Mobile Internet Minors Mode (CAC 2023): implementing specification for Article 43.
Algorithm Recommendation Provisions / Deep Synthesis Provisions / Generative AI Interim Measures: sector-specific duties toward minors layer on top.
Provisions on the Online Protection of Children’s Personal Information (CAC 2019): the specialized rule at the departmental-rule level.

Source Text and Translations

Language	Source	Link
Chinese (original)	State Council	gov.cn
English	China Law Translate	https://www.chinalawtranslate.com/ (keyword: minors online)

Version History

Date	Event
2022-03	Draft for public comment
2023-09-20	Adopted by State Council executive meeting
2023-10-24	Signed by the State Council
2024-01-01	Effective