China's top cyberspace regulator has ordered online platforms to ensure livestream tipping services are provided in a "direct and transparent" manner, including the requirement of guardian consent allowing minors aged 8 to 16 to use such services.

A notice released on Monday by the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission sets out 11 specific requirements to regulate profit-making activities in online livestreaming, including clearly disclosing tipping rules and providing spending caps and reminder functions.

According to the notice, platforms that offer top-up and tipping services, set ranking lists or design interactive features must establish clear rules and disclose them in a direct and concise manner. They must not use repeated redirects or lengthy terms that affect users' understanding.

If a livestreaming account applies for tipping-related monetization privileges and has a record of violations, such privileges may be restored only three months after the penalty period ends, the notice said.

If an account is muted for rule violations, its tipping-related monetization privileges must also be suspended for a period two to three times the length of the mute period, it said.

Without user consent, platforms are barred from publicly displaying users' spending data, such as top-ups, tips or gift purchases.

Platforms are also required to strengthen the review of tipping-related interactions and must not allow illegal or harmful content, or induce users to tip through cash-back offers, self-tipping or similar practices.

The notice also calls for stronger protection of minors.

Platforms must not provide tipping services to children under age 8. For minors aged 8 to 16, guardian consent is required, it said.

For minors aged 16 and above, platforms must obtain guardian consent or verify proof of income before providing tipping services.

The notice also requires livestreaming platforms to closely monitor abnormal tipping behavior and verify such transactions with users through appropriate means.

It also says platforms should handle refund disputes involving minors in accordance with the principle of acting in the best interests of minors.

A case involving a 17-year-old who spent 450,000 yuan ($65,900) on a livestreaming platform drew wide attention in April 2025. A Beijing court upheld a ruling ordering the platform to return 240,000 yuan to the minor.

According to an explanation released by the Beijing Higher People's Court, the teenager was a real-name registered user of an entertainment livestreaming platform, while the bank card linked to the account belonged to his father.

Over the course of a year, the teenager used the account to top up more than 450,000 yuan and tip streamers on the platform.

The platform had initially imposed spending restrictions after detecting his abnormal consumption and suspended the account's top-up and tipping functions.

However, the teenager later impersonated his father in a phone call to customer service, and the platform lifted all restrictions based solely on the call, leading to further large-value spending.

The court held that the large-value tipping transactions were invalid because the teenager, as a minor with limited civil capacity, made them without prior consent from his guardians, who later explicitly refused to ratify them.

It also found that the platform failed to effectively fulfill its review and supervisory duties, while the minor was at fault for impersonating his guardian to remove spending limits, and his parents, as guardians, also bore responsibility for inadequate oversight.

Taking into account the degree of fault on all sides, the court ordered the platform to return 240,000 yuan.