China restricts minors from live streaming, citing need to improve their ‘physical and mental health’

  • Users aged between 16 and 18 must obtain permission from their parents or guardians before doing live-streams, and minors are banned from tipping online
  • China’s tighter rules on the live-streaming sector appear to be following a similar path as that for video games

Live-streamers prepare for a live-streaming session in Hangzhou, China, June 21, 2021. Photo: Bloomberg

China’s regulators have moved to ban minors from participating in the country’s live-streaming industry to protect “their physical and mental health”, the latest in a series of crackdowns on a sector that gained huge popularity amid the coronavirus lockdowns of 2020.

The new requirements, issued by four regulators including the National Radio and Television Administration and the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), represent the latest government moves to strengthen minor protection in cyberspace.

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