I. Introduction

With the popularization and development of the internet, minors are accessing the internet at an increasingly earlier age, and the internet has become an important part of their lives and learning. According to the 52nd "Statistical Report on the Development of China's Internet Network" published by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), as of June 2023, the scale of China's netizens has reached 1.079 billion, with the scale of minor netizens exceeding 191 million. However, there is a large amount of harmful information on the internet, such as violence, pornography, gambling, and fraud, which pose tremendous hidden dangers to the physical and mental health and growth of minors. Therefore, protecting the online security of minors has become an urgent task. To strengthen the protection of minors online and prevent them from being harmed by harmful online information, China has formulated the "Minors Online Protection Regulations" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations").

II. Highlights of the "Regulations"

(1) Obligations of Online Product and Service Providers

The "Regulations" set obligations for online product and service providers in three aspects: prohibiting the provision of harmful information, anti-addiction system requirements, and prevention and handling of cyberbullying. The implementation of these measures will help create a safe and healthy online environment for minors, protecting their physical and mental health and legitimate rights and interests. At the same time, this also requires online product and service providers to earnestly fulfill their social responsibilities, actively cooperate with the efforts of the government and all sectors of society, and jointly create a clean and clear cyberspace.

(1) Prohibiting the Provision of Harmful Information

The "Regulations" explicitly stipulate that online product and service providers shall strictly comply with laws and regulations and shall not provide harmful information to minors. This includes violence, pornography, gambling, terrorism, and other content that may adversely affect the physical and mental health of minors. To ensure the implementation of this provision, the "Regulations" require online product and service providers to establish strict content review mechanisms, conduct real-time monitoring and filtering of published information, and ensure that harmful information is not disseminated. At the same time, for violations of regulations, the "Regulations" set severe punishment measures, including fines, revocation of business licenses, etc., to ensure a clean and clear online environment.

(2) Anti-Addiction System Requirements

Regarding the potential internet addiction issues among minors, the "Regulations" require online product and service providers to implement anti-addiction systems. This requires online service providers to adopt technical measures to reasonably limit the time and frequency of minors' internet use, avoiding excessive internet addiction. Specifically, online service providers need to develop and apply effective anti-addiction systems, such as setting usage time limits and reminding users to take breaks, to ensure that minors can use the internet in a healthy and reasonable manner.

(3) Cyberbullying Prevention and Handling

Cyberbullying has become an increasingly serious problem in recent years, causinggreat harm to the physical and mental health of minors. To this end, the "Regulations" require online product and service providers to establish effective cyberbullying prevention and handling mechanisms. First, online service providers need to strengthen supervision, promptly discover and handle cyberbullying behaviors. Second, they need to provide convenient reporting channels and encourage users to actively report cyberbullying behaviors. At the same time, for behaviors confirmed as cyberbullying, online service providers shall take necessary measures to stop them and impose serious penalties on the responsible parties. In addition, the "Regulations" also require online service providers to strengthen user education and improve minors' internet security awareness and self-protection capabilities.

(2) Responsibilities of Family, School, and Society

The "Regulations" set responsibilities for family, school, and society in the protection of minors online. The implementation of these measures will help form a pattern of minors' online protection involving government, enterprises, schools, families, and society, providing a safe and healthy online environment for minors.

(1) Family Education and Supervision

Family is the first classroom for minors' growth, and parents play an important role in children's internet use. The "Regulations" require parents or other guardians to strengthen guidance and supervision of minors' internet use and assume responsibility for family education and supervision.

First, parents should pay attention to their children's online behavior, guide them to use the internet correctly, and avoid internet addiction or exposure to harmful information. This includes establishing good communication with children, understanding their internet usage habits and needs, and guiding them to establish correct internet usage concepts.

Second, parents should strengthen the protection of their children's online security. This includes protecting children's personal information from disclosure and preventing children from conducting online transactions without parental consent. At the same time, parents should also educate children on how to identify online risks and improve their internet security awareness and self-protection capabilities.

(2) School Education and Supervision

School is an important place for minors to receive education and one of the main environments where they access the internet. The "Regulations" require schools to strengthen internet literacy education for students and assume responsibility for school education and supervision.

First, schools should incorporate internet literacy education into the curriculum system to ensure that students master basic internet knowledge and skills. This includes educating students on how to use the internet correctly, identify internet risks, and protect personal information.

Second, schools should strengthen supervision of students' internet use during school hours. This includes establishing strict campus internet usage regulations, prohibiting students from using illegal or harmful information on campus, and ensuring a clean and safe campus network. At the same time, schools should also establish effective cyberbullying prevention and handling mechanisms to promptly discover and handle cyberbullying behaviors on campus.

(3) Social Education and Supervision

Society is the broader environment for minors' growth, and all sectors of society bear important responsibilities in protecting minors online. The "Regulations" encourage all sectors of society to actively participate in protecting minors online and assume responsibility for social education and supervision.

First, internet enterprises should provide online products and services suitable for minors and adopt technical measures to protect minors' personal information. This includes developing internet applications suitable for minors and providing a safe and reliable online environment. Internet enterprises should also strengthen supervision and handling of harmful information to ensure a clean and safe online environment.

Second, educational institutions, public welfare organizations, etc. should actively participate in internet literacy education for minors. This includes conducting internet literacy training courses and producing internet literacy education promotional materials to provide rich internet literacy education resources for minors. At the same time, these institutions should also strengthen attention to and research on minors' internet use, providing targeted suggestions and measures for the government and society.

(3) Supervision and Punishment Measures

The "Regulations" set specific legal responsibilities for online product and service providers, families, schools, and society. Online product and service providers must ensure information content security, prohibit providing harmful information, and implement anti-addiction and cyberbullying prevention measures; otherwise, they will face penalties such as warnings, fines, ordered suspension for rectification, and revocation of business licenses. Families must assume responsibility for guiding and supervising minors' online behavior; if they fail to fulfill their duties and cause minors to be harmed online, they will bear corresponding legal responsibilities. Schools must strengthen internet literacy education; if they fail to fulfill educational and management responsibilities and cause students to be harmed online, they will be dealt with by the education administration department. All sectors of society must jointly participate in online protection work; if they violate relevant regulations and cause adverse effects, they will also face corresponding punishments.

III. Conclusion

Finally, the "Regulations" also emphasize the importance and urgency of protecting minors online, calling on the entire society to pay attention and participate. To ensure the online security and healthy growth of minors, the joint efforts and cooperation of the government, enterprises, schools, families, and all sectors of society are needed. Let us work together to build a safe, healthy, and green online environment and provide better online protection and services for minors.