China’s long-anticipated rules requiring artificial intelligence (AI)-generated content to be labeled took effect Monday, forcing tech companies and social media platforms to clearly mark material made with AI, reports Caixin. The new regulation, jointly issued by the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security and the National Radio and Television Administration, mandates both explicit and hidden labels for synthetic content.
Explicit labels include watermarks, text notices or audio prompts that users can easily see or hear. Hidden labels embed digital identifiers in metadata that are invisible to ordinary users but detectable by platforms. AI service providers must apply both forms where applicable.
Platforms are also required to verify whether content uploaded by users was created with AI and label it accordingly with tags such as “AI-generated,” “possibly AI-generated” or “suspected AI-generated.” Users who post AI-generated content must declare it and use platform-provided tools to add labels.