One hour a day, for a maximum of three a week. And only on weekends: from 8pm to 9pm from Friday to Sunday. And a bonus, on the occasion of national holidays. Point. Xi Jinping’s China launches tightening on online video games for minors, and minors mean those under 18. Less than 48 hours before the opening of the new school year, the National Press and Publication Administration has issued the notification “for the ‘effective prevention of the dependence of minors on online games’ in order, the official media reported, to tackle the age-old problem of gambling addiction. In this way, “the physical and mental health of minors will be protected more effectively”, also with the strict implementation of registration and access with real name and facial recognition. The measure reaffirms the need to “actively guide families, schools and other social sectors to co-administer, govern and fulfill the responsibility of child protection in accordance with the law and create a good environment for healthy growth for them”.
The National Press and Publication Administration also urged rigorous implementation of real name registration and logins, stating that online game providers should not provide any form of service that does not include real data and facial recognition. Press and publishing administrations at all levels were asked to strengthen ‘the supervision and inspection of the implementation of relevant measures to prevent minors from engaging in online games and dealing with video game companies who do not. they have been strictly implemented in accordance with laws and regulations ”. A measure that wanted to reiterate the need to “actively guide families, schools and other social sectors to co-administer, govern and fulfill the responsibility of child protection in accordance with the law and create a good environment for healthy growth for them “.
The new restrictions directly affect some Chinese web giants, the likes of Tencent and NetEase. On the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the stocks were discounted as well as the decision of the National Press and Publication Administration. NetEase, listed on Wall Street as Tencent, immediately lost 4% in the morning. Tencent, on the other hand, eliminates the initial losses, after having lost more than 3%. Most of the revenue of both companies comes from the video game business.