The changes described by the Bloomberg news agency as “the world’s most restrictive in terms of internet use” have now been unveiled. The motive is to prevent minors from spending too much time with smartphones and on social media and is in line with previous restrictions. Since 2021, Chinese authorities have had various forms of campaigns aimed at children and young people and, among other things, have referred to computer gaming as “a spiritual opium”.
The latest changes, now published by the Cyberspace Administration of China, mean that children will not be allowed to use the internet from mobile devices between 10pm and 6am and that a two-hour time limit will be introduced for teenagers.
What penalties can be handed out in case of violation is not specified, but it is customary in China for companies to be held responsible for government regulations.
The announcement is considered bad news for a number of internet services such as Tencent’s WeChat. Tech giant Tencent also fell sharply on the Hong Kong stock market during today’s trading. Even Bytedance, which is behind Tiktok, is judged to be affected even though the company is not listed on the stock exchange.