China’s National Press and Publication Administration has issued the “Notice on Further Strict Management and Practically Preventing Minors from Indulging in Online Games,” to restrict online games for children under 18 years of age to protect both their physical and mental health.
The notice states that the time for online game services to minors in China should be strictly limited. All online game companies can only provide minors with one hour of service from 8 PM and 9 PM on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays— for the other days, companies are not allowed to provide any online game services to minors in any form.
Tencent said in a statement that they will implement the new requirements, sharing their support for these new rules. Plus, they shared that they have started to take measures to follow these regulations with their recent requirement for facial recognition.
Additionally, companies will also not be allowed to provide services to users who haven’t logged in with their real-name registration, this is done in order to counter players who have an extra account for anonymous access. The notice encourages families, schools, and other social media sectors to actively guide minors in order to create a good environment.
