China wants to take action against online gambling addiction in the country - and is severely restricting play times for children and young people.
Stocks collapse.
Beijing - Gambling addiction is a problem in some countries around the world.
China now wants to proceed with strict rules - even stricter than before.
In future, children and young people will only be allowed to play video games on the Internet for an average of three hours a week.
There are clear times for this: Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m., Mondays to Thursdays not at all.
The authorities announced.
According to AFP, there are only exceptions during the holidays: But even then, minors should only be allowed to play for one hour per day.
In order for children and young people to be able to take part in the games at all, their ID should be checked when they log in.
The new rules are a significant tightening of the rules. Previously, minors were only prohibited from playing video games on the Internet between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.
Hard times for online gaming: Combat addiction to the games
The aim of the new regulations is to combat dependency on games.
Teachers and doctors in the People's Republic have long complained about deteriorating eyesight in children, poor grades and a lack of physical activity.
At the beginning of August, an influential government newspaper said that the video games had become “intellectual opium”.
In addition, the pressure on the tech concerts is increasing.
The popular online game “Honor of Kings”, which is played by more than 100 million people every day, belongs to Tencent, for example.
As the
Tagesschau
reports, the shares of this and other companies that deal with online games fell significantly after the announcement.
In addition, such corporations should be controlled more.
The reactions to the new rules were divided.
Tech giant designed new rules back in July: "Children, put your cell phones away"
As early as July, news made the rounds that the Chinese tech giant Tencent wanted to use facial recognition to expose children who secretly want to play computers after midnight and send them to bed.
All players who are logged in at night have been subjected to a face check since then.
"Children, put your cell phones away and go to sleep," wrote the company on online networks.
(cibo / AFP)