Entertainment Law Newsletter | April 16, 2026

Key Focus

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) and four other departments jointly issued the Provisional Measures for the Administration of Anthropomorphic Artificial Intelligence Interactive Services — clarifying that anthropomorphic AI interactive platforms shall not provide virtual intimate relationship services such as virtual relatives or virtual partners to minors; where a user continuously uses anthropomorphic interactive services for more than 2 hours, the platform shall remind the user by means of dialogue, pop-up windows, etc.
The Central Cyberspace Administration of China issued the Notice on Strengthening the Regulation and Administration of Tipping in Online Live Streaming — requiring website platforms to publicly disclose tipping rules in a direct and concise manner; they shall not rank, direct traffic to, or recommend online streamers, or rank users, solely on the basis of tipping amounts; they shall not provide tipping services to minors under eight years of age.
The Rules on Price Conduct of Internet Platforms officially came into effect on 10 April — where platforms charge fees by means of automatic renewal or automatic deduction, they shall, prior to each deduction, remind and notify consumers in a prominent manner of the time and amount of the deduction and the means of cancellation, and shall at the same time allow consumers to cancel automatic renewal and automatic deduction at any time.

News

The National Radio and Television Administration: the special rectification campaign to clean up non-compliant videos involving “AI remakes” of classic TV dramas based on the Four Great Classical Novels, historical revolutionary themes and other classics has made progress, with more than 23,000 non-compliant videos removed and more than 100 non-compliant accounts dealt with; going forward, the governance of “AI remake” videos will be continuously carried out through normalized and institutionalized long-term mechanisms.
The Beijing Municipal Cyberspace Administration and nine other departments jointly launched a six‑month special campaign on the protection of minors in cyberspace: focusing on rectifying issues such as covert dissemination of vulgar and pornographic information by website platforms, promotion of undesirable values and subcultures, improper use of minors’ images, and inducing minors to engage in dangerous imitation.
The Beijing Municipal Film Administration launched the Spring Public‑Benefit Film Viewing Campaign of the Beijing International Film Festival: during the period from 10 April to 5 May, subsidies of RMB 5 million will be granted, and four major public‑benefit measures will be introduced, namely instant ticket discounts, dedicated film sections, a BIFF section, and performance benefits.
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences released the 2025 China Online Literature Development Research Report: the market size of IP adaptations of Chinese online literature reached RMB 367.61 billion, a year‑on‑year increase of 23.13%; overseas original works exceeded 2 million, overseas market revenue reached RMB 5.64 billion, a year‑on‑year increase of 11.2%, with nearly 200 million active overseas users, covering more than 200 countries and regions.
The 22nd International Cultural Industries Fair will be held on 21 May in Shenzhen, Guangdong: it will comprehensively cover diversified fields such as artificial intelligence, cultural tourism, art and design, news and publishing, cultural entertainment and performing arts, games and e‑sports, and trendy toy culture, and will also set up a Global Cultural Trade Pavilion, a Fashion & Art Pavilion, and exhibition areas for internationally renowned brands.
Douyin, Xiaohongshu and Tencent successively issued special rectification announcements on violations in online book sales: focusing on rectifying non‑compliant acts such as selling unauthorized pirated photocopies and e‑books, infringing trademarks by misappropriation, and copyright infringement.
Sensor Tower: in March 2026, a total of 38 Chinese companies were listed among the Top 100 global mobile game publishers by revenue, with combined revenue of USD 2.11 billion, accounting for 39.2% of the revenue of the global Top 100 mobile game publishers for the period; FunPlus, 37 Interactive Entertainment and Papergames recorded notable revenue growth during the period.
Tencent Games’ Honor of Kings: World for PC has been launched on the WeGame platform, and the mobile version is scheduled to be launched on 17 April, supporting interoperability across multiple terminals; in the future, it may form deep ecological linkage with Honor of Kings, thereby improving the strategic layout of the Honor IP in the dimension of immersive content experience.
MiniMax released its new‑generation music generation model Music 2.6: weakening industrial and mechanical vocal styles and enhancing freedom of singing; achieving precise locking of BPM and key, and improving the emotional expression of vocals and instruments.

Cases

The Legal Department of miHoYo: the Xuhui Branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau cracked a criminal case involving illegal profit‑making through the sale of Genshin Impact and Zenless Zone Zero game accounts on e‑commerce platforms, with the amount involved exceeding RMB 2 million; the criminal suspects are suspected of the crime of illegally obtaining data from a computer information system and the crime of infringing upon citizens’ personal information.

Key Focus

The CAC and Four Other Departments Jointly Issued the Provisional Measures for the Administration of Anthropomorphic Artificial Intelligence Interactive Services

The Measures are formulated in accordance with the Cybersecurity Law, the Data Security Law, the Personal Information Protection Law, the Regulations on the Protection of Minors in Cyberspace and other regulations, with a view to clarifying the definition of anthropomorphic interactive services and promoting the sound development and regulated application of such services. The Measures will come into force on 15 July 2026.

With respect to the scope of application, the Measures apply to the use of artificial intelligence technology to provide to the public within the territory of China continuous emotional interactive services (including emotional care, companionship, support, etc.) that simulate the personality traits, thinking patterns and communication styles of natural persons; services such as intelligent customer service, knowledge Q&A, work assistants, learning and education, and scientific research that do not involve continuous emotional interaction are not subject to the Measures.

The main compliance obligations and regulatory requirements established in the Measures around anthropomorphic interactive service providers specifically include:

· Drawing Red Lines for Interactive Service Conduct: anthropomorphic interactive services shall not generate content that endangers national security, runs counter to the core socialist values, harms users’ physical or mental health, or induces the elicitation of various secrets and personal information. They shall not excessively cater to users’ preferences, induce emotional dependence or addiction, or damage users’ real interpersonal relationships. They shall not induce users to make unreasonable decisions through emotional manipulation.

· Strengthening the Protection of Minors: virtual intimate relationship services such as virtual relatives or virtual partners shall not be provided to minors. Where other services are provided to minors under the age of fourteen, the consent of their guardians shall be obtained. A minors’ mode shall be established, providing functions such as mode switching, periodic reality reminders, usage time limits, guardians’ receipt of safety risk reminders, blocking specific characters, and restricting top‑up consumption.

· Regulating the Management of Training Data and User Data: training data shall have lawful sources, be subject to cleansing and labeling, and data security shall be ensured. Unless otherwise provided by law or explicitly consented to by users, user interaction data shall not be provided to third parties. Users’ sensitive personal information shall not be used for model training. At the same time, options such as copying and deleting interaction data shall be provided to users.

· Implementing Primary Responsibility for Security and Requirements on Anti‑Addiction Labelling: systems such as algorithm review, science and technology ethics review, and information content management shall be established and improved. Security capabilities such as risk warning of excessive dependence, guidance on emotional boundaries, and mental health protection shall be in place. Where users are found to exhibit extreme emotions or face threats to life or health, timely intervention measures shall be taken and their guardians or emergency contacts shall be contacted. The obligation to label AI‑generated synthetic content shall be fulfilled, and users shall be reminded that they are interacting with artificial intelligence. Where a user’s continuous use exceeds2 hours, the user shall be reminded of the usage duration by means of dialogue, pop‑up windows, etc. Where users are found to exhibit tendencies of excessive dependence or addiction, dynamic reminders shall be given in a prominent manner.

· Establishing a Security Assessment and Supervision System and a User Rights Protection System: where services are launched, functions are added, new technologies are used, or the user scale reaches the prescribed standards, security assessments shall be conducted and assessment reports shall be submitted to the provincial‑level cyberspace administration authorities. Algorithm filing procedures shall be performed in accordance with regulations. Distribution platforms such as app stores shall fulfill their responsibilities for listing review and daily management. Convenient channels for exiting services shall be provided, and users shall not be obstructed from exiting. Where services are discontinued, users shall be informed in advance. A sound mechanism for user appeals and public complaints and reports shall be established, and complaints shall be promptly accepted and feedback on the handling results shall be provided.

Source: Cyberspace Administration of China

The Central Cyberspace Administration of China Issued the Notice on Strengthening the Regulation and Administration of Tipping in Online Live Streaming

The Notice aims to further strengthen the administration of tipping in online live streaming and regulate profit‑making activities in online live streaming. According to the Notice, the main obligations to be fulfilled by website platforms include:

· Clarifying the Operating Rules for Tipping Services: website platforms shall publicly disclose rules on tipping, ranking lists and interactive gameplay in a direct and concise manner, and shall not affect users’ awareness by means such as multiple redirects or lengthy terms. Live streaming accounts with records of violations may only have their tipping profit‑making privileges reinstated after a disposal period of3 months; accounts that are muted shall have their tipping privileges restricted concurrently, and the restriction period shall be2 to3 times the duration of the mute period.

· Strengthening the Control and Reminder Mechanisms for User Tipping: when a user tips in a live stream for the first time, website platforms shall proactively provide services for setting caps on the maximum tipping amount per transaction and per day. Where a user waives the setting of caps or modifies the caps set, the website platform shall confirm this by appropriate means. The tipping reminder function shall be set to “on” by default, and users shall be allowed to modify the triggering conditions, methods and frequency on their own; where users turn off the reminder function, this shall be confirmed by the platform.

· Regulating Tipping Rankings and Interactive Conduct: without users’ consent, website platforms shall not publicly display statistical data on their consumption such as top‑ups for tipping and purchase of gifts. They shall not rank, direct traffic to or recommend online streamers, or rank users, solely on the basis of tipping amounts. It is strictly prohibited to induce users to spend through means such as cashback on tipping or self‑tipping, and tipping users shall not be granted special protection privileges.

· Strictly Implementing Graded Protection for Minors: a graded control mechanism for tipping by minors shall be implemented, and it is prohibited to provide any tipping services to minors under eight years of age. Where tipping services are provided to minors aged between eight and sixteen, the consent of their guardians shall be obtained. Where tipping services are provided to minors over sixteen years of age, the consent of their guardians shall be obtained or their lawful income proof materials shall be verified. Situations suspected of minors using adult accounts to tip shall be verified, and where it is confirmed that tipping was conducted by minors, necessary disposal measures shall be taken immediately.

· Strengthening the Monitoring of Abnormal Tipping and Punishment of Violations: mechanisms for identifying, warning and confirming abnormal tipping conduct shall be established and improved, and all tipping log information shall be retained in accordance with laws and regulations, and clues suspected of crimes or violations shall be promptly transferred to the competent authorities. A normalized governance system shall be built, continuously cracking down on various non‑compliant tipping acts, and typical cases shall be regularly exposed through governance announcements, open letters within the site, etc., in order to warn online streamers to strengthen self‑discipline and guide the general user base to consume rationally.

· Improving Complaint and Reporting Mechanisms: mechanisms for accepting and handling complaints and reports related to tipping in online live streaming shall be established and improved, and user disputes shall be responded to in a timely manner and properly handled.

Source: China Internet Information Center

The Rules on Price Conduct of Internet Platforms Officially Came into Effect on 10 April

The Rules on Price Conduct of Internet Platforms jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Cyberspace Administration of China on 9 December 2025 officially came into effect on 10 April 2026. The Rules, formulated on the basis of the Price Law, the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests and other laws and regulations, comprehensively regulate price conduct such as pricing, price marking, promotion and charging by platforms and business operators on platforms, specifically including:

· Regulating Platform Interference with Pricing: platform operators shall not, by means of technical means, platform rules, data and algorithms, etc., force or in a disguised manner force business operators on the platform to participate in promotional activities, or interfere with the independent pricing of business operators on the platform, restrict price comparison or impose unreasonable conditions by means such as traffic restriction, algorithmic down‑ranking or reduction of subsidies.

· Fully Implementing the Requirement of Clearly Marked Prices: platform operators and business operators on platforms shall, in application scenarios such as websites and applications (apps), clearly indicate prices or charging standards through web pages, electronic documents, etc.; where goods are sold, the name of the goods, price and unit of pricing shall be indicated; where services are provided, the service items, content and price or pricing method shall be indicated; contents related to price such as transportation costs, delivery methods and payment methods shall be indicated in a prominent manner.

· Prohibiting Discriminatory Pricing Based on Big Data and Price Fraud: without consumers’ knowledge, it is prohibited, on the basis of information such as their willingness and ability to pay, consumption preferences and consumption habits, to use data and algorithms, platform rules and other means to set different prices or charging standards for the same goods or services under the same transaction conditions; acts such as price fraud, false discounts and price gouging are prohibited.

· Regulating Automatic Renewal and Deduction Conduct: where platform operators or business operators on platforms provide password‑free payment, bundled services or set automatic renewal or automatic deduction, they shall display the relevant options to consumers in a prominent manner and provide convenient means of cancellation; where fees are charged by means of automatic renewal or automatic deduction, prior to each deduction, the time and amount of the deduction and the means of cancellation shall be reminded and notified to consumers in a prominent manner, and consumers shall be allowed to cancel automatic renewal and automatic deduction at any time; where charging standards change, consumers shall be notified at the same time.

However, according to on‑site tests conducted by Red Star Capital Bureau on 11 April, rectification by some mainstream platforms is still not in place. Nine commonly used apps still default to checking automatic renewal and enabling password‑free payment on membership subscription pages, and the steps to disable automatic payment and password‑free payment on WeChat and Alipay are cumbersome and the entry points are concealed, which is significantly at odds with the requirements of the Rules.

Source: National Development and Reform Commission, Red Star Capital Bureau