Refinitiv Newscasts - Explained: Why and how China is limiting online gaming for minors

GIB Capital

31/08/2021 23:19

Click the following link to watch video: https://share.newscasts.refinitiv.com/link?entryId=1_r72bk4fq&referenceId=tag:reuters.com,2021:newsml_OVESM8RQJ_930&pageId=RefinitivNewscasts
Source: Reuters

Description: China on Monday introduced new rules that limit the amount of
time under-18s can spend on video games to three hours a week, a move it said
was necessary to combat gaming addiction. This report produced by Emma Jehle.
Short Link: https://refini.tv/3zxqbDW

Video Transcript:

Three hours a week.

That’s the absolute maximum amount of time under-18s can spend on video
games in China after the country introduced a drastic new limit to combat
gaming addiction.

China is the world's largest video game market and authorities here have
worried for years about gaming and internet addiction among young people.

The National Press and Publication Administration, the regulator that approves
video game titles, said the new rules were a response to growing concern that
games affected the physical and mental health of children.

According to state media, about 62.5% of Chinese minors often play games
online. Rising rates of nearsightedness were cited as a concern in 2018.
Clinics have even been set up which combine therapy and military drills for
those with so-called "gaming disorders".

Chinese regulators have also targeted the private tutoring industry and what
they see as celebrity worship in recent weeks, citing the need to ensure the
wellbeing of children.

Different people have different levels of self-control and they might have
different kinds of supervision from parents and carers within the society.
People also have to consider complicated factors, such as the education
background from school and family. This is not something they can simply
control. People in the end can always play on another account or buy accounts
from adults. I don't think the new regulation makes any sense. Although it
aims to help teenagers, however, the less you get, the more curious you'll be.

Gaming limits aren’t a completely foreign concept in China. In 2017,
Tencent Holdings would limit playtime for some young users of its flagship
mobile game "Honor of Kings" after complaints from parents and teachers that
children were becoming addicted.

In 2019, Beijing passed laws limiting minors to less than 1.5 hours of online
games on weekdays and three hours on weekends, as well as rules on how much
minors could spend on virtual gaming items.

In July, Tencent rolled out a facial recognition function dubbed "midnight
patrol" that parents can switch on to prevent children from using adult logins
to get around the government curfew.

Professor Chen Jiang teaches about the gaming industry at Peking University.

There are always loopholes. I can imagine countries have already begun to deal
with it. For example, account leasing, which means that adults rent accounts
to young people or modify mobile phones, or there will be human skin masks in
the future. These are all possible. And in fact, what we see may be that
parents themselves are willing to help children in the family unlock it as
long as they have their permission. So this policy is certainly not a
one-size-fits-all hack to kill the possibility of all young people playing
games, but it can be done in general.

Well, the onus sits with the gaming industry rather than individuals. Online
gaming companies must ensure they have put real name verification systems in
place, and all titles will eventually need to be connected to an
anti-addiction system being set up by the NPPA.

The NPPA told state news agency Xinhua it would increase the frequency and
intensity of inspections to ensure limits were put in place; step up measures
to punish gaming firms that violate the rules; and increase penalties given
after inspections