Front‐End Governance of Juvenile Cybercrime in China

Platform Accountability, Risk Mitigation, and Tri‐Partite Collaboration

Bibliographic Data

ID21558335
AuthorsZhengfa Zi (School of Law Chongqing University Chongqing China), Ziteng Yuan (School of Law Chongqing University Chongqing China), Shiqi Zhang (0000-0003-0628-0616, Honghuagang District People's Court of Zunyi Zunyi Guizhou China), Wanqiang Wu (0000-0002-3199-6934, School of Law Sun Yat‐sen University Guangzhou China, corresponding author)
Year2026
Publication date2026-06-18
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBehavioral Sciences & the Law (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0735-3936 • E-ISSN: 1099-0798
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/bsl.70077
PMID42312741
OpenAlexW7165189585
LanguageEN
References cited23

Juvenile cybercrime is a salient governance challenge in digitalizing societies, yet scholarship concentrates on ex post sanction and under‐theorizes the interaction among platform design, the digital risk environment, and minors' developmental vulnerability. Drawing on K.G.M. v. Meta Platforms, this study develops a “front‐end governance” framework anchored in the best‐interests‐of‐the‐child principle and articulated through three doctrinal pillars, the platform duty of risk mitigation, the regulation of harmful design and risky digital environments, and the foreseeability of risk. An empirical component, based on a cross‐sectional survey in China, examines institutional support for prevention. Endorsement is broad, 92% for strengthened market regulation, 91% for cyber‐law education, 84% for technical firewalls, and 83% for internet classification and digital curfews. On responsibility allocation, 76% prioritize tri‐partite collaborative governance involving families, schools, and society. Multinomial logistic regression indicates occupational positioning is the only significant predictor of priority orientation; regional, income, and educational variation are non‐significant once controls are applied, a null pattern we read as suggestive rather than confirmatory. The findings support a shift from ex post sanction to ex ante risk governance, organized around platform accountability, age‐appropriate design, rule‐of‐law education, and graded content ecosystems

Corporate governance · Cybercrime · Ex-ante · Multinomial logistic regression · Poison control · Scholarship · The Internet · Advanced Malware Detection Techniques · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Cybercrime and Law Enforcement Studies · Human Factors and Ergonomics

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