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China’s highest court sets out new AI red lines with rules on deepfakes and privacy
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Meredith ChenPublished: 7:12pm, 8 Sep 2026Updated: 7:48pm, 8 Sep 2026China’s top court has issued new guidance on how judges should handle civil cases involving artificial intelligence, setting out rules on liability for deepfakes, voice cloning, hallucinations and violations of personal rights.
Although Beijing has yet to pass a dedicated AI law, the guidelines expand the country’s legal framework governing the technology.
The Supreme People’s Court’s 24-article opinion, released on Monday, instead provides guidance for handling AI-related disputes under existing laws, including the Civil Code, Cybersecurity Law, Copyright Law and Personal Information Protection Law.
The rules were the first of their kind and aimed to “draw clear legal red lines” while supporting innovation and development, the court said, aligning itself with the current national policy.
A major focus of the opinion was the use of AI to create deepfake images and videos, clone people’s voices and digitally “bring the dead back to life”.
The court said this could infringe legal protections covering aspects of a person’s identity and elements such as their image, voice and reputation.
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