In July 2026 the Cyberspace Administration of China issued a notice deploying a four-month “Qinglang — Minors Online Protection” special action nationwide. The action has two phases; the first is the “Qinglang 2026 Summer Campaign on the Online Environment for Minors”, seizing on the summer peak in minors’ internet use.
Unlike previous online-environment campaigns, this one names AI content explicitly.
Two named categories of disorder
First, “AI poison animation”. Content mass-produced with generative AI, dressed in cartoon clothing but containing violence, horror or harmful values, is becoming a new governance target. Its harm lies in its camouflage — a children’s animation on the outside, unsuitable content on the inside.
Second, “hyping child influencers”. Some accounts and MCN agencies create child influencers through staged scenes and scripted performances, even using AI face-swapping and synthesised images. The special action draws regulatory red lines for platforms, violating accounts and MCN agencies respectively.
From “content moderation” to “minors mode”
For AI companies, the meaning of this action goes beyond content moderation. It advances “minors protection” from a content-governance topic to a product-design requirement.
At the product level there are at least three touchpoints.
Age identification and minors mode. AI products that may reach minors need a workable age-identification and grading mechanism, and a restricted mode for minors. This aligns with the minors-mode requirements in the Interim Measures on Anthropomorphic Interactive AI Services.
Double-gating of generated content. For child-oriented content, both the input — suggestive prompts — and the output — unsuitable content — must be filtered. Post-hoc moderation alone is insufficient; limits must be set at the generation stage.
Labelling of staged and synthesised content. Where a minor’s synthesised image and content are involved, labelling duties and portrait-right issues overlap, raising the risk. See our Data Compliance service page.
Responsibility of platforms and MCNs
The special action also targets platforms and MCN agencies. Platforms bear content-moderation and account-management responsibility; MCN agencies are responsible for the content of the accounts they incubate. For companies making AI content-generation tools, distributing content or incubating talent, this means the allocation of content-compliance responsibility must be defined in cooperation agreements. See our Commercial Contracts service page.
Three points for AI companies
First, screen child-facing content and features. Reviewing a product from a parent’s perspective often reveals overlooked risks.
Second, make minors protection a product mechanism, not a compliance document. Age identification, mode switching, reminders and limits must be actually triggerable in the product.
Third, write content-safety responsibility into upstream and downstream contracts. The responsibility boundaries among the AI content-tool provider, the distribution platform and the MCN must be defined from the outset of cooperation. See our Data Compliance service page.
This article is based on public information on the “Qinglang — Minors Online Protection” special action deployed by the Cyberspace Administration of China in July 2026. It is for reference only and does not constitute legal advice.