China, draft State Council Provisions on Safeguarding Minors' Healthy and Safe Use of the Internet (国务院关于保障未成年人健康安全使用网络的规定（征求意见稿）)

What it requires

The draft is an administrative regulation at State Council level, a tier above a departmental rule such as NRTA Order No. 16, and runs to 25 articles. Article 5 requires that online audio-video services, non-publishing live streaming, online games, social networking and AI services capable of affecting minors' cognition be delivered to users under 16 through a minor mode. Article 4 prohibits to minors stranger social networking, except for self-supporting users aged 16 and over, virtual kinship and virtual companion services, services that induce addiction, and live-stream publishing by users under 16. Article 6 requires providers to be able to identify minor users, listing legal identity documents, the national network identity authentication public service, distributed digital identity, one-time facial verification that is not stored, and behavioural-characteristic recognition. Article 8 prohibits algorithm models that induce emotional dependence, addiction or excessive consumption among minor users, and requires algorithm-mechanism audit and technology-ethics review systems. Article 10 requires application distribution platforms to review listings, assess the age-appropriateness of applications and restrict the download and installation of age-inappropriate applications, and requires terminal manufacturers to provide minor-mode linkage, one-tap switching, exit verification and protection against circumvention. Article 12 requires minor-mode arrangements to be filed with the provincial cyberspace administration, with filing to the national administration, a build-and-usage report and annual verification for platforms with very large numbers of minor users or significant influence. Article 18 provides for confiscation of illegal gains, a fine of one to ten times illegal gains where those gains reach 1m yuan, a fine of 100,000 to 1m yuan otherwise, fines of 10,000 to 100,000 yuan on responsible individuals, and, where a provider refuses to rectify or the case is serious, suspension of business, closure of the website or application, and revocation of a licence or business licence.

Why it bears on this field

The draft never names micro short drama. The terms 短剧 and 微短剧 do not appear in the text, and nor do the payment terms 付费, 充值 or 打赏. It reaches vertical-drama applications through two other routes. The first is category: Article 5 lists online audio-video services, which is the classification a vertical-drama application falls under, and the phrase minor mode appears 33 times in the draft. The second is monetisation: Article 8's prohibition on algorithm models inducing excessive consumption addresses the episode-unlock and virtual-currency mechanics on which the format's revenue rests. Article 10 additionally moves part of enforcement to the application store, which affects distribution of a foreign-operated application into China as well as a domestic one. Because the instrument sits at State Council level, it would rank above NRTA Order No. 16 rather than alongside it, and Article 24 allows the administration to adjust the service lists in Articles 4 and 5 over time.

Open questions

• The commencement date in Article 25 is blank and no date has been indicated. The thresholds that would define a platform with a very large number of minor users or significant influence under Article 12 are not stated. How the draft's minor-mode duty would interact with the existing minor-mode requirements of the 2023 Regulations on the Protection of Minors Online, which the draft preserves rather than replaces, is not set out. Whether the text will survive consultation in this form is unknown.

Timeline

• 2026-09-18The Cyberspace Administration of China publishes the draft Provisions for public comment, with a comment deadline of 17 October 2026. The notice is signed by the administration and dated 18 September 2026. Source (opens in a new tab)