Hong Kong – China’s crackdown on online video games was effective Thursday. There are now everyone in the country under the age of 18 (more than 268 million people, according to Chinese census data) restricted to only three hours of play per week.
Children can only play on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays, and only between 8pm and 9pm on these days. Access to online gaming now requires real-name verification and login systems, and gaming companies can only allow young players their three hours of service within those small hours.
Reaction to the new rules has been mixed. Some Beijing parents told CBS News that they agreed that their children’s time was better spent exercising or studying, while others criticized the measure because the government came to family life.
“It seems to be part of a big push to get the government to really be able to focus on every element of people’s lives,” the technology-based online media and expert told CBS News. Hong Kong, Paul Haswell.
But politics is part of a larger push by Beijing to control not only personal habits, but to reintroduce the overwhelming influence that technology has suddenly claimed. Chinese society, and government motivations go beyond protecting children.
“Electronic medicines” and digital detoxification
Chinese state media had telegraphed government frustration in the weeks leading up to the new policy by comparing video games to “electronic drugs” and “spiritual opium,” which evokes memories of the 1800s, when millions of Chinese left. back addicted to opium smoking during the country Opium Wars with the UK.
“No industry can be allowed to destroy a generation,” China’s economic news newspaper wrote on August 3rd.
More than six in ten Chinese minors play video games frequently online, according to Chinese state media, while more than one in ten play on their mobile devices for more than two hours each day during the school week.
For some parents, the new gaming policy didn’t go into effect soon enough. Many had already taken drastic measures, forcing their Internet-addicted children to rehabilitate themselves in China’s digital “detox” centers.
“I’ve been advocating this for years,” said Tao Ran, director of the Adolescent Psychological Development Base. “The strong measure of the Chinese government this time is the most successful attempt in our fight against addiction.”
CBS News visited the Tao facility about 20 miles outside of Beijing, where technology is not allowed.
Right now there are about 30 boys and girls living structured and camp style days full of exercise and advice. They share simple bedrooms with other young patients and eat commonly. Their parents often also live there, as part of the holistic program to reintegrate children with their families and society.
Tao, a former Colonel of the People’s Liberation Army with experience in psychology, said 85% of Chinese minors have some form of Internet addiction, which he called “number one enemy for [personal] growth “.
His program costs about $ 1,850 a month and most patients choose to stay between three and six months, even though he had a family stay for 11 months. At the busiest time, the center has more than 130 patients. Boys make up the majority, but Tao said he has seen more and more girls received by loved ones.
“The girls ratio has gone from 10% to 30% in the last two years, a big leap,” she said, which she attributed to the availability of a wider variety of online games, with a wider appeal.
A man from the rehab center told CBS News that he had been there with his son every day for about a month, as the 17-year-old was suspended from school for three months.
“He spent eight to nine hours every day online. From time to time he would be online all day and night, 24 hours. It’s not just his problem. Our family didn’t create enough love, so he had to look for a replacement in the games, ”said the father, who did not want to be identified. “Initially I didn’t recognize that I had a problem. After a few weeks he started accepting the fact that he had problems. He had a chance to reflect. My son is very social and devoted himself to running away with other apprentices. when he first came in, but they didn’t take any action. “
A high school student who had already been at the facility for five months, with both his parents joining him for the past month, told CBS News that he had also been suspended from school after falling with a group of friends “who might be considered bad influences.”
“We spent whole nights in cybercafes, sometimes we drank alcohol, sometimes I didn’t go home for three or four days. I spent more than 10 hours a day online. In the worst case, I went to bed every two days.” , the boy said. “I have something to do here. I get up at 5:50 in the morning and do exercises in the morning and run. After lunch, we do group therapy and lectures. I think it’s hard for participants to recognize the improvements … it’s progressive.Every time you take a small step and you don’t realize how far you’ve climbed until you’re no longer on top of the mountain.When you get back to real life, the people around you may see you differently. “
But while the new rules may help keep more kids out of centers like Tao’s, it’s not good news for the companies behind the games.
What else is behind it?
“I think that’s bad news for some of the tech companies themselves,” Haswell told CBS News about the new game limits. “I think Tencent will fight harder.”
Tencent is the creator of the popular “Honor of Kings,” the world’s highest-grossing video game for much of this year. On August 3, the same day that criticism of the Chinese state media was published, Tencent shares fell 10% and launched $ 60 billion in market capitalization. His actions have since picked up.
“I think it’s an attempt to try to achieve more equality,” said Haswell, a technology partner at Pinsent Masons. “At the same time, maybe it’s a little heavy. Maybe repression is punishing those who have achieved it.”
The new limits of online play are part of a broad repression that goes far beyond video games, and motivation probably goes far beyond protecting children. This year Beijing has done it he turned to other massive companies in the technology sector, including Alibaba, often known as the Amazon of China, and Didi, known by many as the Uber of China, allegedly for personal data issues.
Authorities have also changed the rules of popular online tutoring companies, accused for a long time of giving people who can afford these services a competitive advantage over less wealthy families who cannot. They can no longer charge for their basic academic services.
Some of China’s biggest celebrities have also seen their online profiles on the Chinese Internet deleted in recent months, for reasons that have not been clarified exactly.
Haswell says the general repression of the digital space probably stems from a combination of factors, including the amount of data that large technology companies have stored, the influence that individuals have on Chinese society, and concerns about people who they gain new spaces to communicate and are more difficult to control.
“Remember, online games are, by their very nature, social. And it’s another social space that should be regulated. Think about the amount of censorship going on on the Internet in China,” Haswell said. “Online chat rooms related to a game can be more difficult to moderate.”
With this latest set of new rules, Beijing has made it clear that protecting – many would say police – the next generations of the country is more important than any corporate interest. It is also a clear message to future generations and the largest companies in China that there is no superior power over the ruling Communist Party.