NEW NEWS!!! AND ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO TELL CHINA WE WANT ANIMAL CRUELTY LAWS!!! ---China Drafts Strict Regulations on Minors' Internet Use as Investigations Reveal Online Groups Instructing Youth in Animal Cruelty Released: 2026-09-18 The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) released a draft regulation titled 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐬' 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐭 (𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬), launching a 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔. The legislative effort arrives as civil rights advocates and animal welfare activists highlight a troubling trend: young minors being recruited online and provided step-by-step instructions to torture animals. 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 According to reports tracked in community awareness campaigns, investigative work by grassroots volunteers revealed that up to 70% of active participants in encrypted and closed abuse-video groups are minors. Extreme underground networks frequently contact young users through online gaming platforms, private messaging channels, and closed chat forums. In these hidden spaces, organizers induce minors by offering task-based instructions, tutorials, and social validation to commit severe acts of animal abuse, including targeting animals like monkeys, dogs and cats, or live-streaming graphic cruelty. While illicit operators attempt to evade moderation using euphemisms like "dog training" or "cat training," the underlying content involves extreme graphic violence, torture, and killing. 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 (𝐓𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝟐𝟒 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝) The draft regulation introduces targeted requirements aimed directly at intercepting the channels used by these networks: 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐬 (𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝟓): The proposed rules explicitly extend platform responsibility beyond public feeds to encompass microblogs, community forums, closed groups, friend feeds, private messaging, and comment sections under designated minors' protection modes. 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐃𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 (𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝟕): Platforms that detect users creating, copying, posting, or distributing content that harms or may affect minors' physical and mental health are required to take immediate enforcement measures in accordance with the law. 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 (𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝟒): Network service providers will be prohibited from offering stranger-networking services to children under 16, restricting direct access by adult predators and online syndicates. 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐔𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐄𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 While Article 7 creates a legal mechanism requiring platforms to purge harmful material, civic groups note that the current draft text does not explicitly cite "graphic animal cruelty or live-streamed abuse" by name. To close this gap, advocates and public commenters are urging the CAC to incorporate explicit rules prioritizing the removal of graphic violence against animals, specifically targeting content used to shock, recruit minors, set up imitation challenges, or issue assigned tasks. 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 — 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐀𝐂 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔. 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐨 ⁠𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐛𝐚𝐨@𝐜𝐚𝐜.𝐠𝐨𝐯.𝐜𝐧⁠. Official Link : cac.gov.cn/2026-09/18/c_1791…