You’ve probably seen videos of children in classrooms, reacting to pranks, answering questions, doing dance challenges, or teachers showing how their students are trying new teaching techniques. For years, this content has flooded social media platforms, often posted by teachers or schools on unofficial accounts, and these types of videos boast high view counts.
As of March 1, 2026, China has made some new changes regarding posting minors on social media. New regulations put together by eight departments, including the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), have jointly issued the Measures for Classification of Online Information That May Affect the Physical and Mental Health of Minors. For parents, understanding these rules is the first step toward ensuring your child’s rights are protected.
The primary four types of content that will no longer be allowed include:
1. Staged or Scripted Content: Creating fake classroom scenarios that promote inappropriate values or behavior.
2. Commercial Exploitation: Using a child’s image to market products or services.
3. Mocking or Bullying: Editing or presenting content in a way that makes fun of a student for online attention.
4. Undisclosed “Tests”: Recording students without their knowledge to test their honesty or character for entertainment.
Content creators will no longer be able to operate in the gray area where consent can be assumed if the parent or guardian doesn’t object. Starting March 1, if you want to post such content, the compliant approach would be to obtain consent from the other child’s parent before posting, or to blur or otherwise make the other child unrecognizable in the video.
The new law applies to all forms of online publication, including WeChat Moments, class-specific Douyin accounts, and even photo essays shared in parent-teacher groups.
What This Means for Your Child’s School
The new measures do not ban schools from taking or sharing photos altogether. Instead, they mandate a more transparent and consent-based process.
Schools are now expected to establish clear internal policies on the use of student images and to obtain explicit, informed parental consent before publishing any content featuring a child. The use of the kids’ images will strictly be for the purposes outlined in that consent and cannot be used for other purposes, even by the same institution. In other words, if you give consent for your child’s photo to be used for their school’s back-to-school content, they can’t use it again for a summer camp promotion without your consent again.
For parents, this means the vague photo consent form buried in a back-to-school packet is no longer sufficient. You should expect to see formal consent forms (同意书) that specify exactly how your child’s image will be used, whether for internal records, a school website, or a class yearbook.
Your Rights as a Parent
Under the new framework, consent is not a blanket authorization. If you sign a form allowing your child’s photo to appear in a classroom activity summary, that same image cannot later be used in a teacher’s personal social media content or to promote a commercial product. The scope of use must match the scope of your agreement.
You also have the right to request previews of any images before they are published, even in private class groups, withdraw consent at any time, and report violations if you believe your child’s image is being used improperly.
“Twenty years ago, we suddenly got access to cameras in our pockets + multiple platforms where we can share them. It didn’t take long after that for family bloggers to transition into vloggers, and at the same time (early 2010s), pranks evolved into the much more disturbing challenge subculture now infamous among creators like MrBeast. Filming strangers in public to ridicule them slowly became normalized through the twenty-tweens, and as we saw more kids in “real” situations online (+ reality TV shows pervading our streams), we lost more than any sense of privacy for our kids along the way. We lost respect for them. I see this every day, coaching families through media and digital literacy tools; often, the first step is to break down that veil of permissiveness we’ve defaulted to.” says Cindy Marie Jenkins*. “This specific issue with the use of minors’ images in classrooms springs from that lack of respect and quickly pushes into removing their consent for their entire identity.
People like me who became parents around this time: many were and still are not very careful, many pulled back on posting as kids got older, some were always cautious, and everywhere in between.”
Why the Rules Exist
The regulations are a response to years of unregulated “campus content” that blurred the line between documentation and entertainment. Videos that portrayed classrooms as stages for comedy or drama created unrealistic expectations and, in some cases, subjected children to online scrutiny without their knowledge or consent.
“Our spectrum of sharing, or “sharenting,” should evolve as we learn more about how companies store and sell our data as well. And I know that personally or professionally, whenever there’s a digital footprint tied to my child’s school and schooling, I get uncomfortable and need to ask questions.” adds Jenkins.
So what about your own social media platform that has absolutely nothing to do with school? What if you post a video of your child playing with another kid they just met on the playground? The regulations do not explicitly create an exception for “incidental” or “background” appearances of minors. The language is broad: any display of a minor’s image that could identify them requires consent from their 监护人 (guardian). If you do end up posting a video where someone else’s child is clearly visible, technically, you’re in violation if you didn’t get the other child’s parents’ consent. If the video is reported, the platform may be required to remove it, and you may face potential consequences depending on the content of the video.
*Cindy Marie Jenkins watches YouTube so you don’t have to. Her digital literacy library and advice at OutThinkMedia.com have been featured in BBC Culture, Good Housekeeping, Jingkids Intl, National Geographic, and more .Since leaving Beijing in 2021, she helms Communications for an arts consulting firm and continues her love of education through counseling international students through their college application journey.
Images: FreePik
