China News Service, Jinan, September 14 (Reporter Liu Yue) As "Internet natives", the learning, socialization, and growth of contemporary minors have long been deeply symbiotic with the Internet. Building a network security defense line that is suitable for the development of teenagers has also become a crucial part of network governance.
On September 14, the 2026 National Cybersecurity Publicity Week Cybersecurity Technology Summit Forum was held in Jinan, Shandong. At the meeting, Tang Jie, director of the Department for Safeguarding Youth Rights and Interests of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, introduced the main results of the "Blue Book on Youth Development: National Survey Report on Internet Usage of Minors" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"), using detailed data to outline the current status of my country's minors' Internet use behavior and provide support for the Internet protection of minors.
According to reports, the blue book was compiled under the guidance of the Central Cyberspace Administration of China and by the Department for Safeguarding Youth Rights and Interests of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League in conjunction with the China Internet Network Information Center. More than 49,000 valid questionnaires were collected from 652 primary and secondary schools and secondary vocational schools across the country, and more than 5,000 students, parents, and teachers were interviewed in depth. An interdisciplinary expert team was formed to conduct special discussions and solicit opinions and suggestions from cyberspace, education and other departments, industries, and academia. It has been completed and will be officially published soon. The overall report shows that the Internet literacy of minors in my country continues to improve, Internet applications are becoming more and more widespread, and the Internet environment continues to become clearer.
Survey data shows that the number of minor Internet users in my country has reached 198 million, and the Internet penetration rate is as high as 98.3%. The gap in Internet penetration rate between urban and rural minors has narrowed to 0.4 percentage points, and the Internet has achieved remarkable results in inclusiveness. At the same time, behind the rising penetration rate, there is still the reality of uneven development: although minors in rural areas can easily access the Internet, they still have shortcomings in the diverse applications of smart terminals, mastery of network skills, and awareness of security protection. The promotion of balanced network literacy is still an urgent direction.
As network governance continues to advance, the overall network environment for minors continues to become clearer, and the "minor model" is iteratively improved. But new risks are also emerging. The survey found that 64.2% of the underage netizens surveyed expressed a lack of self-control over short videos, and about one-fifth of the underage netizens were worried that they would become psychologically dependent on artificial intelligence. These new phenomena have put forward new requirements for network security governance.
While the Internet brings risks, it also opens a broad cognitive window. More than 60% of the minor netizens surveyed said that they have seen the world outside of books through the Internet, and online life has become an important field for minors to broaden their horizons and explore their interests. At the same time, diverse subcultures are growing rapidly online, profoundly affecting the behavior of minors. How to guide teenagers to distinguish right from wrong and stick to themselves in the rich online ecology is an issue that cannot be avoided in network security education.
The popularization of artificial intelligence has brought minors’ online safety to a new dimension. Data shows that 78.5% of the minor netizens surveyed have used AI tools in learning, creation or entertainment, and minors have become a high-frequency group for AI applications. However, most minors lack the ability to identify AI-generated content, identify algorithm bias, and grasp ethical boundaries. 83% of teachers surveyed expressed concerns about the risk of students abusing AI. Technological dividends come with potential risks, which also means that network security protection must keep pace with technological development, plan in advance, and take proactive actions.
In response to the above problems, minors, their parents, experts and scholars in the survey put forward four suggestions: First, comprehensively promote balanced inclusiveness, promote the institutionalization and normalization of Internet literacy-related education represented by artificial intelligence, especially help minors in rural areas make up for their shortcomings; second, treat the problem of addiction at the source, further improve the "minor model", strengthen identity verification and behavior recognition, and create Adapt benign algorithms to minors; third, vigorously clarify the cyberspace, continue to carry out special governance of the network environment for minors, and establish and improve early warning mechanisms for minors' Internet behavior risks; fourth, actively guide AI to do good, embed the "most beneficial to minors" principle into AI product design, strengthen hierarchical management of AI education products, and help minors use artificial intelligence tools correctly and scientifically.
Tang Jie said that next, the Communist Youth League will further strengthen cooperation with all sectors of society to jointly build a digital security barrier for the healthy growth of young people. During the 2026 National Cyber Security Publicity Week, the release and discussion of relevant data in this blue book also provided an important reference for the whole society to pay attention to the cybersecurity of minors and jointly build a clear cyberspace.
