China: Strict gaming rules for children

As it was announced a short while ago, China is limiting the gaming time for children. Minors are only allowed to spend three hours per week in gaming - and only on weekends. Since a long time China has been famous for its strict restrictions in many areas of life. But do the new gaming rules for children and youths make sense?

Since the 1st. September 2021 there are strict gaming rules for young people in China. Accordingly minors are only allowed to spend a maximum of three hours per week in gaming and this can only take place during the weekend between 20.00 and 21.00. China is famous for its strict rules in many areas of life. In the past year we had for example reported about Chinas fight against illegal online gambling

Gaming addiction should be prevented

The Chinese government defends the new measure by saying that it is being done to prevent gaming addiction. The children and youths should learn how to play online in a responsible way. This is not about virtual slot machines or other online gambling offers, but more about PC-games and Apps.

For this reason, the Chinese government has decided to regulate the gaming time of minors. The latter are only allowed to play for an hour on Friday, Saturday and Sunday between 20.00 and 21.00. Gaming is also allowed on public holidays but is limited in just the same way. Many parents will support the measures of the Chinese government. They must not actively forbid their children from gaming anymore, because this is already happening through the lawmakers.

Online Games are limited but social media is not

The planned decision is being criticised among other things, because the regulation concerns only online games. This means, that the time limit does not apply for social networks as Facebook or Instagram. It is well known that many children and youths spend a lot of time on social media. The current gaming restrictions are part of a constant process of the Chinese government against large technology firms as Tencent.

Currently there are discussions about how the new laws should be monitored. Among other things, it is being discussed that there will be face monitoring or logging in with one’s own identity. The monitoring will be carried out by the gaming companies. Those who do not do the necessary checks will risk a fine.

Conclusion

The Chinese government is planning to prevent gambling addiction among its youngsters by restricting gaming to a maximum of three hours per week and this follows with immediate effect. The gaming time will be restricted to one hour at a time and is restricted to weekends. It is currently still not clear, whether in reality it is possible to monitor the new laws. Only a few weeks ago a state newspaper had criticised the gaming industry and called it “spiritual Opium“. One should also question whether within this context the gaming time restriction makes sense at all.

Image source: https://pixabay.com/de/photos/kind-turm-bausteine-klötzchen-186471