China Drafts Sweeping Anti-Cyberbullying Law for Platforms

China’s top internet regulator has unveiled a sweeping draft law to crack down on cyberbullying, targeting major tech platforms with fines of up to 10 million yuan and introducing new legal avenues for victims to seek police intervention. The draft Anti-Cyberbullying Law, released July 29 by the Cyberspace Administration of China, marks Beijing’s most comprehensive effort to curb rampant online harassment and is China’s first dedicated legislation specifically addressing cyberviolence.

Context: A Growing Crisis

The proposed law comes amid a documented surge in online abuse across China’s vast internet ecosystem. High-profile cases have drawn national attention, including the 2022 suicide of 17-year-old Liu Xuezhou after extensive online bullying and the 2023 death of a pink-haired woman who was cyberbullied following the publication of her photo. More recently, a March 2025 doxing incident involving the 13-year-old daughter of a Baidu vice president highlighted the growing risks facing young internet users.

China has previously addressed cyberbullying through fragmented regulations, including 2023 judicial guidelines from the Supreme People’s Court and 2024 rules requiring online service providers to establish cyberbullying prevention mechanisms. However, as Caixin reported, the lack of a comprehensive statutory definition of cyberbullying has left enforcement gaps and made victim recourse difficult.

Key Provisions of the Draft Law

The draft law consists of seven chapters and 60 articles, defining cyberbullying as concentrated or sustained online activities that infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of individuals or organizations, including honor, privacy, likeness, and personal information rights. It explicitly identifies four categories of prohibited conduct: mass dissemination of insulting or defamatory content, unlawful publication of personal information, sustained online harassment or intimidation, and other activities infringing on legitimate rights.

Platform Obligations

Internet service providers face significantly expanded responsibilities under the proposed legislation. Platforms must establish cyberbullying monitoring and identification mechanisms, building characteristic databases, typical case sample libraries, and early warning models using AI, big data, and manual review. They are required to verify users’ real identities before allowing them to post content or use instant messaging services, and must offer protective features such as blocking unknown users and restricting comments on personal posts.

Platforms that violate the law and cause particularly serious impacts could face fines ranging from 2 million to 10 million yuan, as well as service suspension, business rectification, website or app closure, and license revocation. According to Global Times, accounts that organize cyberbullying or exploit it for marketing purposes may face blacklisting and permanent bans on re-registration.

AI-Generated Cyberbullying

The draft law contains notable provisions addressing AI-facilitated harassment. Platforms must detect, trace, and report AI-generated cyberbullying content, including deepfakes, AI-generated abusive comments, and other AI-amplified harassment. This reflects growing concern about the role of artificial intelligence in scaling online abuse, as noted in analysis from LawStreet Journal, which described the legislation as one of the most detailed attempts by any country to hold digital platforms accountable for AI-generated harassment.

Extraterritorial Reach

In a notable feature, the draft law applies to overseas organizations or individuals who target entities or persons within China. This extraterritorial reach aligns with amendments to China’s Cybersecurity Law that took effect on January 1, 2026, extending enforcement beyond China’s borders.

Legal Remedies for Victims

The draft introduces several new mechanisms to strengthen victim recourse. A “personality rights protection injunction” allows victims to seek court orders against ongoing or imminent cyberbullying. Police must assist victims in evidence collection for private prosecutions, and the law permits public prosecution for severe online defamation cases. Victims can also claim mental distress damages.

Legal experts have welcomed these provisions. Zhi Zhenfeng, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Law Institute, told Guangming Daily that the draft law “more clearly defines the types of legitimate rights and interests infringed by cyberbullying” and emphasizes two-way protection, seeking balance between punishing cyberbullying and protecting normal freedom of expression and public oversight.

Zhao Jingwu, an associate professor at Beihang University Law School, noted that the core purpose is to ensure platforms transition from formally fulfilling obligations to fully fulfilling them, preventing platforms from evading legal duties using excuses like insufficient technical capability or lack of governance capacity.

Analysis: A Global First

Zhu Wei, a professor at China University of Political Science and Law, described the draft as “the world’s first comprehensive law specifically aimed at combating online harassment,” arguing that it demonstrates China’s internet governance has reached the forefront globally. The law shifts the focus from punishment after cyberbullying to prevention, protecting individual rights while addressing what Zhu called the poisoning of the online ecosystem.

Xu Linhan, a lawyer at Beijing Huixiang Law Firm, told Caixin that the draft transforms platforms into primary responsible parties for cyberbullying governance. This represents a significant shift from reactive content removal to proactive monitoring and prevention.

What’s Next

The public comment period runs through August 28, 2026, after which the draft may be revised before formal enactment. The legislation’s specific provisions—particularly those governing how aggressively platforms must scan for AI-generated abuse—may undergo adjustment during the consultation process.

For China’s tech industry, the implications are substantial. Major platforms including WeChat, Douyin, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu will need to invest in sophisticated detection systems and compliance infrastructure. For the broader global conversation on online safety, China’s approach—combining platform accountability, AI-specific provisions, extraterritorial reach, and victim-centered legal remedies—offers a notable case study in how governments can legislate against digital harassment.

As the draft moves toward enactment, observers will be watching how the law balances enforcement with the protection of legitimate speech, and whether its ambitious platform obligations prove workable in practice. The outcome will shape not only China’s digital landscape but also the global debate on who bears responsibility for keeping online spaces safe.