China's Cyberspace Administration is launching new draft regulations that would require hardware companies to pre-install surveillance software on communication devices and legalize specific approaches to treating internet addiction, all in the interest of protecting children. The regulations encourage industrial and social sectors to become more engaged in issues of child protection online, through content warning and take down systems, pre-installed censorship and surveillance softwares, legalization and promotion of Internet addiction treatments, and age verification systems for online games. Published on September 30, the Regulations on the Protection of Minors Online are open for public comment until October 31 2016. Many are worried that the surveillance capabilities built into hardware or pre-installed on communication devices could be used for other purposes. According to Articles 11 and 12 of the regulations: 第十条 国家鼓励并支持研发、生产和推广未成年人上网保护软件。 国家网信部门会同国务院工信等部门组织制定未成年人上网保护软件研发、生产和推广的政策并组织实施。 第十一条 学校、图书馆、文化馆、青少年宫等公益性场所为未成年人提供上网设施的，应当安装未成年人上网保护软件，避免未成年人接触违法信息和不适宜未成年人接触的信息。 第十二条 智能终端产品制造商在产品出厂时、智能终端产品进口商在产品销售前应当在产品上安装未成年人上网保护软件，或者为安装未成年人上网保护软件提供便利并采用显著方式告知用户安装渠道和方法。 Article 11. All internet facilities in schools, libraries, cultural and youth centers should install softwares to protect minors and prevent them from accessing illegal and inappropriate information. Article 12. Manufacturers and Importers of all computing devices should make sure that the products be pre-installed with minor protection softwares or have clear instructions on how to install minor protection softwares before the products are sold on the market. A blogger based in Guangzhou, who chose to have their identity withheld, expressed concern that after the legislation, all cell phones and computers made in China would be pre-installed with surveillance technology that could not be uninstalled. This surveillance software could be used to spy on all activities, online or offline, of the device's owner. They could also be used to disrupt the functioning of circumvention tools. The blogger also pointed out that in the past, surveillance technologies found on Chinese-made hardware have had technical backdoors, leaving them vulnerable to malicious hackers. In 2009, the Chinese government had attempted to force both domestic and international PC makers to pre-install a filtering software known as “Green Dam-Youth Escort,” which blocked banned websites by linking between each user's device and an online database of banned sites. As Chinese netizens kept finding the flaws in the software, the plan was halted. The current regulations do not specify which types of software would be installed in all communication devices, to be able to effectively prevent the minors from accessing “illegal and inappropriate information” as defined by Chinese law. But they do say that all software eventually would be linked to a central database controlled by the government or party authorities. Article 10 clearly states that the Cyber Administration and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will be responsible for the development, manufacturing and implementation of the software policy. This is why many Chinese netizens exclaimed that “the Green Dam” has returned. All online discussions about this have been removed by Chinese web censors. Online conversations about legalizing Internet addiction treatments have been less censored. While the international psychiatric community continues to debate whether Internet addiction is a real problem, the Chinese government appears ready to develop a domestic evaluation system and subject minors to a so-called “conversion” treatment. According to the drafted regulation: 第二十条 教育、卫生计生等部门依据各自职责，组织开展预防未成年人沉迷网络的教育，对未成年人网络成瘾实施干预和矫治。 县级以上人民政府及其教育行政部门应当为中小学校配备专门教师或提高教师专业水平，增强对未成年人沉迷网络的早期识别和干预能力，并可以通过购买服务等方式提供预防和干预未成年人沉迷网络的教育或服务。 国务院卫生计生部门会同有关部门推动出台网络成瘾的本土化预测和诊断测评系统，制定诊断、治疗规范。 Article 20: Education and health departments should organize and implement education programs and medical treatments to prevent minors from falling into Internet addiction and to convert minors who are addicted. People’s government and education authorities of and above county level should equip primary and secondary schools with teachers specialing in this field or improve teachers’ professional skills to detect and intervene into the problem of internet addiction among minors at an early stage. Schools could also buy services from organizations specializing in prevention and intervention in internet addiction among minors. The Ministry of Health and Family Planning will work with other authorities to develop a detection and evaluation system on internet addiction and develop a code for the diagnosis and treatment of internet addiction.