China Forbids Under 18's From Playing More Than 3 Hours of Video Games Per Week

As the title says. China has just passed new rules forbidding under 18's from playing video games more than 3 hours per week. They are allowed to play for 1 hour between 8pm-9pm Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

I'm all for moderating kids' screentime, but that's 100% on the parents, and should not be mandated by government.

But I mean hell, the way things are going with vaccine passports, where's the line? If you can force someone to take an experimental jab, why not limit other unhealthy things too right? I mean provaxxers should be all about these kinds of draconian measures for the greater good of society right?

www.reuters.com...

China has forbidden under-18s from playing video games for more than three hours a week, a stringent social intervention that it said was needed to pull the plug on a growing addiction to what it once described as "spiritual opium".

The new rules, published on Monday, are part of a major shift by Beijing to strengthen control over its society and key sectors of its economy, including tech, education and property, after years of runaway growth.

The restrictions, which apply to any devices including phones, are a body blow to a global gaming industry that caters to tens of millions of young players in the world's most lucrative market.

They limit under-18s to playing for one hour a day - 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. - on only Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, according to the Xinhua state news agency. They can also play for an hour, at the same time, on public holidays.

"Teenagers are the future of our motherland," Xinhua quoted an unnamed NPPA spokesperson as saying. "Protecting the physical and mental health of minors is related to the people's vital interests, and relates to the cultivation of the younger generation in the era of national rejuvenation."

Gaming companies will be barred from providing services to minors in any form outside the stipulated hours and must ensure they have put real-name verification systems in place, said the regulator, which oversees the country's video games market.

Previously, China had limited the length of time under-18s could play video games to 1.5 hours on any day and three hours on holidays under 2019 rules.

a reply to: dug88

Now they can spend more time making Apple phones and Nike shoes!

a reply to: dug88

They call it spiritual opium, isn't that an interesting way to put it?

It will never work. The kids playing the games are more technically advanced than those making the rules.
Kids will figure out how to circumvent the system.

I think most western families self regulate and limite their children’s screen time, all on their own… without the need for a none Democratic totalitarian government, this is exactly why communist regimes continue to fail

Because they produce an enclosed, inward looking, none capable of thinking for themselves society, which doesn’t produce innovation hence why the ccp continue to lie cheat and steal

And just like that thousands of youths changed their birth years on their accounts from being over 13 to over 18.

Never underestimate the ability of kids to slack off.

a reply to: dug88

They've been limiting game time for a while now. I think its was only limiting the hours played and not setting limitations on which days oh times of day. I guess when you choose to have a totalitarian government these things are kind of expected...

I wonder how Chinese kids get around this..Becuase I bet they will.
This is-surprise surprise-all linked in to the digital surveillance system the Chinese state forces its citizens to live under.
The kind of thing some governments are trying to pull on us too IMO,but thats another thread.

The kids are all logged in the system,with their real names and ID,address,maybe fingerprint -and the games providers will only allow them to play at the allocated 3 hours-and the government/AI is watching...

Hmm,I am thinking there will be a big black market in old pre net connected game devices-old game boys/PSPs maybe?

I would have likley turned into a revolutionary if I got told by the government I was only allowed 3 hours on computer games when I was a kid.
Or at the very least had a fit of rage and smashed a few bottles with a stick.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

Chinese kids wont get around it .
And we wont be able to get around it either when they implement it here.

And it is coming

a reply to: sciencelol

Currently people do get around it using VPNs and other anonymity software but the punishment if caught is pretty stiff.

originally posted by: RickyD
a reply to: sciencelol

Currently people do get around it using VPNs and other anonymity software but the punishment if caught is pretty stiff.

I get that but that is why they dont even try

a reply to: sciencelol

Just look at eve online to see how often these restrictions are breached... There are huge chinese alliances with 1000s of players and plenty are under 18.

a reply to: dug88

This whole thing could just be a test to see if they CAN enforce and control such a mundane part of personal life. I was listening to a podcast today, “Mysterious Universe” and they were talking about the perfect police state, a book written by someone who got out of west China. The level of surveillance is legit 1984 level, scary stuff. The parallel between it and Covid lockdowns is a little unsettling too.

a reply to: dug88

Gaming is good. Not only do games help with cognitive skills, they can also reduce memory loss as you get older and they can be used for solving puzzles.

a reply to: dug88

Maybe China gets this one right

All the kids I know just want to get hooked up to some type of device. Theymissing out on the nature.

No interest whatsoever in a sheep, cow, blade of grass, mechanics, then go take em to the allotment................ They just don't like it at all

originally posted by: Silcone Synapse
I wonder how Chinese kids get around this..Becuase I bet they will.

Probably with some help from an intelligence agency that is centralized.

I wish they would do this in more countries.

When you walk around you just seem to see kids with their noses stuck to their phones like zombies.

All of a sudden Mom & Dad are gonna' really get totally into 'Grand Theft Auto ver. 97', and 'Call of Duty-Rogue Force Delta Green Team 7 Ninja Force Alpha II: The beginning'....like totally Into!