During this summer vacation, many parents reported that on short video platforms, some "toxic animations" mass-produced using generative artificial intelligence were mixed in with children's animations, making harmful content difficult to accurately identify and effectively intercept.

In response to such online chaos that harms the physical and mental health of minors, the Cyberspace Administration of China, in its "Qinglang - Rectifying AI Application Chaos" special action, listed the use of AI to infringe on the rights and interests of minors as a key target for rectification.

Recently, the Cyberspace Administration of China reported on the results of the second phase of this special action, with a cumulative total of more than 5.61 million pieces of illegal and non-compliant information cleaned up, over 49,000 accounts investigated and dealt with, and more than 2,400 non-compliant websites and applications disposed of.

Animation is an important source of spiritual nourishment for children's growth, helping to support young children's cognitive development and the cultivation of good character.

However, with the rapid development of artificial intelligence, some "toxic animations" mixed with obscenity and pornography, violence and bloodshed, and harmful value orientations have quietly entered children's field of vision.

Generative AI has greatly lowered the threshold for creation. Some creators use AI editing techniques to disguise opening segments with harmless footage to evade review, hiding harmful content in the middle sections of videos.

The high profits brought by high traffic continue to drive the production of related videos, while platform screening technologies have failed to iterate and upgrade in a timely manner, leaving obvious shortcomings in review, and guest mode further makes it difficult for minor protection modes to effectively play their role.

These chaotic phenomena not only touch the bottom line of protecting minors' online safety, but also bring severe challenges to online governance.

Faced with new problems brought by new technologies, boundaries must be drawn using the rule of law.

Minors are not yet mature physically and mentally, and lack the ability to discern harmful online information.

On one side are the commercial interests of platforms and content producers, and on the other are the rights and interests of minors' physical and mental health. Both are protected by law.

In terms of the hierarchy of legal interests, when two legally protected interests conflict, the interest at a higher level should receive priority protection.

The physical and mental health of minors is the core legal interest protected by the Law on the Protection of Minors, and it also concerns public social interests. Its status is higher than the commercial interests of platforms and content producers.

In the face of the lawful rights and interests of minors, commercial interests such as traffic harvesting should make concessions.

Online content aimed at minors must implement stricter management standards than ordinary online information.

At present, regarding minors' online safety, China has already issued relevant regulations. For example, the Provisions on the Administration of Algorithm Recommendations for Internet Information Services require that algorithm recommendation service providers must not push to minors information that may induce unsafe behavior imitation, encourage bad habits, or otherwise affect physical and mental health.

The Regulations on the Protection of Minors in Cyberspace require that large platforms should provide minor modes or special zones and establish compliance systems, and online audio and video services should set up minor modes.

The Law on the Protection of Minors requires that when network service providers discover information containing content harmful to the physical and mental health of minors, they should immediately stop transmission, take measures such as deletion, blocking, and disconnection of links, preserve records, and report to departments such as cyberspace and public security.

To safeguard a clear online space for children and curb the spread of "toxic animation" chaos, both content creators and platforms should assume their primary responsibilities.

Content creators should abide by the bottom line, must not use AI to mass alter classic animation IPs or produce audiovisual content hiding harmful orientations, and should also actively devote themselves to creating high-quality children's content.

Data shows that among domestic online drama films that received distribution licenses in 2025, youth-themed works accounted for only about 5.4%. The supply gap for high-quality children's animation objectively leaves room for "toxic animation" to survive, and the market urgently needs more healthy, uplifting, and educational premium content.

Faced with the dual challenges of insufficient supply of high-quality content and the infiltration of harmful content, online platforms must better act as "gatekeepers": in response to the characteristics of classic IPs such as "Peppa Pig" being altered, establish specialized AI model feature libraries, and carry out technical interception and traffic restriction on videos that deliberately amplify bloody and violent elements; thoroughly rectify minor modes and close system loopholes such as guest login.

Whether minors log in using their own accounts or guardians' accounts, once platforms detect "toxic animation," they should intercept or remove it.

Regulatory authorities and judicial organs should form joint forces and promote continuous improvement of the online ecosystem through administrative law enforcement and case guidance.

Cyberspace departments carry out the "Qinglang" special action and handle, in accordance with the law, non-compliant accounts that mass-produce and spread "toxic animation."

Procuratorial organs should give play to the public interest litigation function for the protection of minors, and in cases where platforms fail to fulfill content review obligations, urge rectification through methods such as issuing procuratorial suggestions and filing public interest litigation.

At present, some localities have already actively taken effective measures. For example, in September 2026, the procuratorate of Jiangkou County, Guizhou, relying on the "Sister Qian" studio, jointly signed a collaborative mechanism for the protection of minors in cyberspace with eight departments, and legally issued procuratorial suggestions for situations where duties were not performed adequately.

People's courts, when hearing cases involving minors' online rights and interests, adhere to the principle of "the best interests of the minor," lawfully punish illegal and criminal acts that use the internet to infringe on minors' rights and interests, clarify adjudication rules by releasing typical cases, give play to the guiding role of judicial adjudication, and use the power of the rule of law to build a defense line for minors' online safety.

At this critical period when minors are shaping their worldview, outlook on life, and values, creating a healthy online environment and purifying the ecological environment of children's online content require coordinated efforts by content creators, platforms, and regulatory and judicial departments.

Only by using the rule of law to build a strong barrier for the protection of minors in cyberspace can we safeguard the healthy growth of children and adolescents in a clear digital environment.