Major Chinese social media platforms including WeChat, Douyin, Weibo, and RedNote have begun implementing mandatory AI-generated content labels to comply with new legislation that took effect Monday. The law, drafted by four government agencies including China’s main internet regulator, aims to help users identify AI-generated material across text, images, audio, video, and other content types amid concerns about misinformation and “AI slop.”
What you should know: The labeling requirements are now being enforced across China’s largest social platforms, with each implementing slightly different approaches.
- WeChat requires users to proactively apply labels to their AI-generated content and prohibits removing, tampering with, or hiding any AI labels the platform applies itself.
- Douyin (TikTok’s Chinese version) urges users to label every post containing AI-generated material while noting it can use metadata to detect content origins.
- Weibo has added an option for users to report “unlabelled AI content” when they spot material that should carry such identifiers.
- All platforms must include watermarks and other identifiers in content metadata.
The regulatory backdrop: Four Chinese government agencies collaborated to draft the legislation, which was issued earlier this year.
- The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the country’s main internet regulator, led the effort alongside the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Public Security, and National Radio and Television Administration.
- In April, the CAC launched a three-month campaign specifically targeting AI apps and services regulation.
- The law is designed to help oversee what regulators describe as a “tidal wave of genAI content.”
Why this matters: Mandatory AI content labeling could help users distinguish between authentic material and AI-generated content, including potential misinformation.
- The move addresses growing concerns about “AI slop”—low-quality AI-generated content—and the spread of false information through generative AI tools.
- Users are also prohibited from using “AI to produce or spread false information, infringing content or any illegal activities” under WeChat’s updated policies.
Global context: Similar labeling initiatives are emerging worldwide, though implementation varies significantly.
- Some US companies providing generative AI tools offer comparable labels and are integrating identifiers into hardware.
- Google’s Pixel 10 devices represent the first phones to implement C2PA (Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity) content credentials directly within the camera app.
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