Manage what users post: keep a review system and a report entry, and when you find something illegal, stop it at once and report it

What users post, the platform has to manage. Registration, review of posts, review of comments, a daily patrol, and what to do when something happens all need a written system. Put a report entry where it is easy to see on the page. When you see illegal information, stop it from spreading at once, keep the record, and report it to the authority in charge. If you do not, the fine can be 50000 to 500000 yuan, and a serious case is more.

Cost

You have to spend money hiring people to review. This is the platform's largest long-running expense. The report entry, and a record of every action you take, have to leave a trace. The hard part is that someone has to watch it every day. Leave it for 1 day and something can go wrong.

Benefit

The regulation says the platform "shall fulfill the primary responsibility for managing information content." What users post is for the platform itself to manage. In particular it must "improve the systems for user registration, account management, review of published information, review of comments and replies, ecological management of pages, real-time patrol, emergency handling, and handling of online rumors and of information from black-market chains." From registration, posts, and comments, through the daily patrol and handling when something happens, every link needs a rule written down. It also "shall set a convenient complaint and report entry in a prominent position." The report button has to sit where a user can see it at a glance and can tap it. On finding illegal information, it "shall immediately take handling measures according to law, keep the relevant records, and report to the relevant authority." The Cybersecurity Law is more specific. It says: "On finding information whose publication or transmission is prohibited by laws or administrative regulations, it shall immediately stop transmission of that information, take handling measures such as removal, prevent the information from spreading, keep the relevant records, and report to the relevant authority." If this is not done, you are ordered to correct, given a warning, and given a circulated notice, and a fine of 50000 to 500000 yuan may be added. If you refuse to correct, or the case is serious, the fine is 500000 to 2000000 yuan. You may also be ordered to suspend business for rectification, to close the website or the application, or to have the license or the business license revoked. The person directly in charge is fined another 50000 to 200000 yuan (nationwide).

Notes

You do not have to invent the review rules. Copy them. Which 9 kinds of content may not be posted is listed clearly in Article 15 of the Measures for the Administration of Internet Information Services. Live streaming adds 3 more things. You must "set up a live-stream content review platform." You must be able to cut off a stream that is on the air at any moment. The article calls this "instant blocking." You also keep the live-stream content and the logs for 60 days. Video records of online performances are likewise no less than 60 days.

Sources · 3

1. 国家互联网信息办公室 (2019). 网络信息内容生态治理规定（网信办令第 5 号，第八、九、十、十六、三十七条）. cac.gov.cn/2019-12/20/c_1578375159509309.htm
2. 全国人大常委会 (2025). 网络安全法（2025 年修正，2026 年 1 月 1 日施行，第四十九、六十九条）. cac.gov.cn/2025-12/29/c_1768735112911946.htm
3. 国务院 (2000). 互联网信息服务管理办法（第十五、十六、二十三条）. gov.cn/gongbao/content/2011/content_1860864.htm