The live-streaming e-commerce industry has officially entered a new era of regulation. On January 7th, the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Cyberspace Administration of China jointly issued the "Regulations on the Supervision and Management of Live-streaming E-commerce," aiming to clarify the responsibilities of all parties involved and build a more fair and transparent shopping environment through live-streaming.

A major highlight of the new regulations is the clear definition of legal boundaries for various entities within the live-streaming e-commerce ecosystem. In addition to enforcing platform qualification verification and consumer rights protection responsibilities, the regulations also detail the obligations of live-streaming room operators, anchors, and MCN agencies. For example, MCN agencies must strengthen their management of talent recruitment and training, while live-streaming room operators are required to establish comprehensive identity verification and compliance review systems. To address challenges in regulatory evidence collection, the new regulations require platforms to extend the retention period of live-stream recordings and transaction records to three years.

Regarding the popular "digital human live-streaming" in recent years, the new regulations provide a clear definition: AI-generated images or videos must be continuously disclosed to consumers during the live-streaming session. It is strictly prohibited to use artificial intelligence as a "safe haven" for false information. If AI content violates laws or regulations, the corresponding responsibility will be borne by the live-streaming room operator who manages or uses that content.

In addition, regulatory authorities will introduce innovative "traffic supervision" measures. For entities found to have violated regulations, platforms will take measures such as limiting traffic, issuing warnings, or even suspending live-streaming based on regulatory notifications. To address issues like merchants "disappearing," the regulations stipulate that if a merchant cannot be contacted through their registered address, the platform must urge them to update their information within a specified time frame; otherwise, they will face penalties.