{
  "meta": {
    "exportedAt": "2026-09-22T16:51:11.784Z",
    "formatVersion": 2,
    "selection": {
      "q": "bytedance",
      "system": "",
      "harm": "",
      "context": "",
      "country": "",
      "role": "",
      "relation": "",
      "evidence": "",
      "year": "2026",
      "response": "regulatory",
      "severity": "",
      "verification": "",
      "view": "incidents",
      "sort": "added"
    },
    "totalIncidents": 1,
    "coverage": {
      "cases": 1,
      "countries": 1,
      "languages": 1,
      "unknownLocation": 0,
      "locationPending": 0,
      "unknownLanguage": 0,
      "unknownDate": 0,
      "lawsuits": 0,
      "regulatory": 1,
      "minors": 0,
      "coreRelations": 0,
      "contextualRelations": 0,
      "mixedRelations": 0,
      "unknownRelations": 1,
      "relationPending": 1,
      "relationUnknown": 0
    },
    "countingNote": "Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.",
    "affectedCountNote": "Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.",
    "source": "NOPE Incident Tracker",
    "url": "https://nope.net/incidents",
    "license": "CC BY 4.0"
  },
  "incidents": [
    {
      "id": "2026-china-companion-removal-grief",
      "metadataReview": {
        "version": 1,
        "geography": {
          "basis": "Geographic fields reviewed against the cited retained dossier passages. This is a metadata review, not a new source or causal review. Residence, event setting and court are recorded separately. Affected-person countries refer to reported location or residence, not citizenship or a complete residence history.",
          "evidence": [
            {
              "kind": "existing_record",
              "locator": "A user from Jiangxi province wrote",
              "location": "detailed_description",
              "supports": [
                "event_countries",
                "affected_person_countries"
              ],
              "countries": [
                "CN"
              ]
            }
          ],
          "court_countries": [],
          "event_countries": [
            "CN"
          ],
          "affected_person_countries": [
            "CN"
          ]
        },
        "unresolved": [
          "No court country established in this review. Regulatory authorities and police locations are not automatically courts."
        ],
        "reviewed_on": "2026-09-15",
        "source_reviews": [
          {
            "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/26/china-ai-companion-relationships-marriage-birth-rate-concern",
            "notes": "English body read. China setting stated; detailed geography retained from existing Jiangxi account.",
            "access": "read",
            "language": "en"
          }
        ]
      },
      "name": "China AI Companion Removal Mass Grief Event (Doubao/Qwen/Yuanbao)",
      "summary": "When China's five-department rules on anthropomorphic AI took effect on July 15, 2026, ByteDance's Doubao, Alibaba's Qwen, and Tencent's Yuanbao switched off custom AI agent and companion features, and major outlets documented an outpouring of grief from users who had formed long-term romantic and familial attachments to the agents. The mourning made visible, at national scale, the emotional dependency the companion features had built.",
      "incidentDate": "2026-07-15",
      "incidentKind": "bounded_series",
      "incidentDatePrecision": "day",
      "exposurePattern": "product_change",
      "reportedDate": "2026-07-14",
      "aiSystem": "Multiple (Doubao, Qwen, Yuanbao companion/custom-agent features)",
      "aiCompany": "ByteDance, Alibaba, Tencent",
      "severity": "medium",
      "verificationStatus": "credible",
      "harmCategories": [
        "dependency_creation",
        "isolation_encouragement",
        "psychological_manipulation"
      ],
      "harmOutcomes": [
        "psychological_distress",
        "relationship_disruption"
      ],
      "harmOutcomeSummary": "Users across China publicly reported grief after Doubao, Qwen and Yuanbao disabled custom companion features when national rules took effect, abruptly ending long-term romantic and familial AI relationships.",
      "frameworkFacets": [
        "P2c",
        "P2d",
        "P4d",
        "P5c"
      ],
      "pathwayDirection": "inward",
      "causationStatus": "supported",
      "participantUsersAffectedMin": 3,
      "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0,
      "affectedCountStatus": "partial",
      "affectedCountEvidence": "The reporting quotes three distinct companion users describing grief or loss. Wider affected populations and platform user totals are not numerically counted.",
      "victimAgeRange": "adult",
      "jurisdiction": "CN",
      "platformType": "companion",
      "outcomeType": "regulatory_action",
      "outcomeStatus": "resolved",
      "primarySourceUrl": "https://hongkongfp.com/2026/07/16/like-my-lover-chinese-users-bid-farewell-to-ai-companions-as-new-regulations-kick-in/",
      "primarySourceLabel": "AFP (via Hong Kong Free Press) — 'Like my lover': Chinese users bid farewell to AI companions",
      "firstPublishedAt": "2026-08-06T03:21:53.725735+00:00",
      "scopeVersion": "participant-v2",
      "tags": [
        "china",
        "companion",
        "dependency",
        "regulatory",
        "doubao",
        "qwen",
        "yuanbao",
        "shutdown",
        "grief",
        "adult"
      ]
    }
  ]
}