Other Chinese Kids Have Their Online Gaming Time Limited

[Demon_Skeith]

A new rule being introduced by the The National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA), China’s online watchdog, is looking to curb what the government feels is a growing “gaming addiction among young people”.

The rule drastically cuts back on the time those under the age of 18 are allowed to play online video games over the weekend, with a one-hour limit to be imposed from Fri-Sun, and which also includes public holidays. That would mean that most of the year kids would be allowed a maximum of three hours of online gaming per week.

As the South China Morning Post reports, the rule was first published in state media outlet Xinhua, where a government spokesperson said “Many parents have said that the gaming addiction problem among teens and children has gravely affected their ability to learn and study as well as their physical and mental health, even causing a series of societal problems.”

Enforcement of this rule is going to be left to China’s gaming companies, like Tencent and NetEase, who are being asked to “strictly implement” registration and login systems that require the use of a player’s real name. Tencent, for its part, has already said that “it supports the new regulation and will implement the new requirements as soon as possible.”

 

[Ash]

Not a fan of something like this, to be honest. There are other ways to sort out gaming addiction and restrictions like this are just stupid. Feel sorry for anyone playing GTA Online, half that time is going to spent on the loading screens

 

[froggyboy604]

I'm not a fan of this law.

I bet, offline PC and console games will suddenly become more popular in China.

 

[Ash]

I'm curious to see how they will police this. Like @froggyboy604 has mentioned alright, people might just start to play offline games to get around any internet bans.

 

[Demon_Skeith]

I'm curious to see how they will police this. Like @froggyboy604 has mentioned alright, people might just start to play offline games to get around any internet bans.

Most likely something parents can report.

 

[froggyboy604]

I'm curious to see how they will police this. Like @froggyboy604 has mentioned alright, people might just start to play offline games to get around any internet bans.

I think most online Chinese games and PC operating systems may install a timer which limits the amount of time young people can play their games for before they get logged out. I feel parents can also report their kids to the police.

 

[Ash]

Most likely something parents can report.

Who reports the parents that don't report the kids ?

 

[froggyboy604]

I feel China can always turn on the webcam, and microphone on the gaming device like a smartphone, smart tv, pc, and console to see if it looks like a kid is gaming, or there are gaming sound effects coming out of the device's speaker.

 

[Ash]

I don't think they will ever go that far. I mean, there are way too many people in China for them to even attempt to do that. I would presume any new tech they sell in the country might have software to restrict gaming time.

 

[froggyboy604]

I feel game company or the Chinese government can always give rewards like money and giftcards, and awards to people who report underage people who are playing online games over the lawful time limit.

 

[Ash]

It might end up like Texas with the abortions. Reward people that snitch on others but that's only going to encourage people to lie

 

[froggyboy604]

I feel kids can also report themselves if they feel gaming too much is negatively effecting their offline life, and the Chinese government can help them play fewer hours of gaming.