China Drafts Rules to Ban 'Virtual Relatives or Companions' for Minors

The takeaway: China's internet regulator has published draft rules that would ban online platforms from offering minors "virtual relatives or companions". The South China Morning Post says the proposals come as AI-powered companions gain traction. The draft would also require platforms to switch on a minors' mode for AI services that "could affect the cognition of" users under 16. It is a draft for now, open for public comment until 17 October.

What the draft says

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) published the 25-article draft in full on 18 September, according to China Daily. The South China Morning Post reports it is titled "Ensuring minors’ safe and healthy use of the internet" and covers how social platforms and game developers should protect minors.

According to the SCMP:

• Online platforms would be banned from providing "virtual relatives or companions" to minors. The SCMP separately reports a ban on offering "virtual intimacy services" to under-18s.
• Platforms would be prohibited from offering services that "induce minors to become addicted or otherwise harm or may seriously affect their physical and mental health".
• Platforms would have to activate a minors' mode when running online games and social sites, and when offering AI services that "could affect the cognition of" users under 16.

China Daily, the state-owned English-language newspaper, reports that the draft also covers livestreaming, online addiction and the use of AI agents, and that it would stop under-16s from hosting livestreams. Zheng Ning (below) said under-16s could still watch livestreams, with platforms required to provide a minor mode.

What supporters say

The experts quoted by China Daily all backed the draft, and its coverage included no critical voices. Zheng Ning, head of the law department at Communication University of China's School of Cultural Industries Management, said: "Virtual intimacy can easily lead children to form emotional attachments, blur the boundaries between virtual and real-life interpersonal relationships, interfere with their real-life social interactions and value recognition and potentially induce internet addiction and irrational spending."

Zheng said the ban is consistent with an earlier regulation that took effect on 15 July, which bans AI platforms from generating content that could lead users to make questionable decisions through emotional manipulation, or that could trigger extreme emotions or unhealthy habits in minors.

The wider picture

The SCMP says the new proposals come two months after China introduced its first dedicated rules governing humanlike AI interaction. China Daily notes that more countries and regions are exploring higher legal thresholds for minors on social platforms, and quotes Wang Zhiqin, vice-president of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, as saying some countries have introduced legislation imposing age restrictions.

The rules can still change during the consultation, which runs until 17 October.