The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the country’s top internet watchdog, has announced its plans to limit the use of smartphones by teenagers.
According to the watchdog, the plan is aimed at creating a “safe and healthy internet environment for minors.
It intends to mandate so-called ‘minor mode programmes’ for smart devices that would give users aged 16 to 18 two hours of screen time a day, users under 16 would get just one hour per day while users under eight would get just eight minutes to use devices.
The CAC proposal will require device makers, operating systems, apps and app stores to introduce the so-called “minor-mode.”
Devices with minor mode will not be able to access the internet between 10pm and 6am, with only emergency calls and approved apps working. Pop-up messages would remind children to rest once they had used their phones for 30 minutes.
The proposed reforms would give parents the option to opt out of the limits, the CAC stated.
As part of the plan, application download platforms will be tasked with creating special areas exclusively dedicated to apps deemed suitable for minors to download.
Also, app developers must provide specific content suited to minors, with children between the ages of 16 and 18 recommended to receive healthy and uplifting content.
Parents will be able to use associated accounts to review any applications downloaded and prohibit their children from installing specific apps if they wish to do so.
Apps related to China’s emergency services and education will be exempted from the restrictions.
The proposed plan is open to public feedback as part of a consultation process scheduled to run until September 2, 2023.
Meanwhile, Video sharing platforms such as ByteDance’s TikTok, known in mainland China as Duoyin, as well as Bilibili and Kuaishou have since 2019 offered “teenage modes” that restrict how long users can use their apps, as well as limiting certain content.
ByteDance’s Douyin app, which is similar to TikTok, restricts teenagers from logging on for more than 40 minutes a day.
Tech investors were displeased as shares in Chinese tech firms listed in Hong Kong largely fell after the CAC published its proposals.
Bilibili and Kuaishou fell to 6.98% and 3.53% respectively while Tencent Holdings, which operates the social network app WeChat, closed 2.99% lower.
A Headache For Internet Firms
Xia Hailong, a lawyer at the Shanghai Shenlun law firm, opined that the proposed reforms would be a headache for the internet companies.
He stated that a lot of effort and additional costs will be needed to properly implement these new regulatory requirements.
Additionally, the lawyer issued a caution that Chinese internet companies may simply ban users under 18 from using their services altogether.
“The risk of non-compliance will also be very high. I believe that many internet companies may consider directly prohibiting minors from using their services.”
Xia Hailong
This is not the first time Chinese authorities have placed restrictions on how teenagers spend their free time.
Severe gaming limits for children under 18 were introduced in 2019. The CAC claimed that the minor mode programmes mark an upgraded version of the “teenager mode” that was introduced in 2019, in what officials said at the time was a bid to prevent internet addiction for children below the age of 14.
In 2021, the authoritarian government tightened already strict rules regulating the amount of time kids under 18 could spend playing online games, banning them from playing on weeknights and giving them one hour between 8 and 9pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
READ ALSO: President Akufo-Addo Commissions $6.6 Million Ashaiman, Bankuman Sewerage And Treatment Plants
