In China, online video game platforms will again restrict their access to minors this summer. As part of the fight against screen addiction, they are entitled to 26 hours of play in all between July 1 and August 31. Faced with recalcitrants, companies are using artificial intelligence and facial recognition.
3 mins
With our correspondent in Beijing, Stephane Lagarde
The 26-hour quota was already in place last summer. The novelty is the use of artificial intelligence to detect the clever little ones who would try to circumvent the device, by using the social accounts of their parents for example, underline state media.
62.3% of minors connected to online games
Because minors are here as glued to the screens, if not more than adults. Some 62.3% of minors connected to online games, according to the national internet usage research report. En 2021, the Chinese web had 191 million Internet users under the age of 18: 96.8% of them have access to the Internet, including 86.7% from their own mobile phone and 62.3 % then said that they play regularly online.
It should be remembered that these games are generally less expensive than those on consoles. The king of online games in China, Tencent’s Glory of Kings, is even free. This does not then prevent players from buying weapons, clothes, and other equipment for their character.
According to the official 2022 report taking stock of the “new anti-addiction regulations”, the proportion of minors whose playing time is less than three hours per week would have risen to 75% with these new provisions aimed at restricting time. screen. Knowing also that minors who have passed the university entrance exam are also subject to these restrictions, notes the Sina-Finance news site.
Putting the soft pedal on smartphones
To prevent recalcitrants from going through the filters with a VPN, “the notice on the strict management and effective prevention of minors from engaging in online gambling”, published by the National Administration of Press and Publication, requires you to register your face to log in via facial recognition. Other identity verification methods are also implemented, such as fingerprint or voiceprint verification.
On its official Weibo account, Netease Games recently announced that young players will be able to access content on Friday, Saturday and Sunday between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. Most game makers have suggested similar timings, following the regulations imposed by the administration in 2021. But the time limitation is not enough. Hence these patrols of virtual agents of artificial intelligence, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
According to some experts, addiction to video games is also linked to the family environment. Parents will therefore also have to put the soft pedal on smartphones to take care of their offspring. For the device to work, it is indeed necessary to offer alternatives to the prohibitions, underline the commentators. Families and society should suggest “ healthy recreational activities to weaned minors from their favorite games.