New curbs safeguard minors playing online games

Strict implementation

After the new restrictions were announced, some online gaming companies promised to continue improving services to better prevent minors becoming addicted to games.

Online giant Tencent said that in recent years it has developed and adopted several new technologies and functions to protect minors, and the company will resolutely support, abide by and proactively implement the new regulations.

Tencent said that in the second quarter of this year, players younger than 16 accounted for just 2.6 percent of its gross receipts for online games in China.

NetEase said it has always tried to protect minors and build a healthy internet environment for them, adding that it would abide by and actively implement the new regulations.

Media reports quoted Ding Lei, the company's CEO, as saying that spending by minors accounts for less than 1 percent of the company's revenue from games.

Zhu Wei, deputy director of the Communication Law Research Center at the China University of Political Science and Law, also welcomed the new restrictions.

He said the development of any industry should not base on sacrificing children's futures.

While minors are not the key groups or main revenue contributors for games companies, addiction to games among underage children often attracts negative publicity for such companies, Zhu said.

Zhao Zhanling, a lawyer with the Beijing Yunjia Law Firm, said the latest restrictions are aimed at implementing the revised Law on the Protection of Minors, which came into effect on June 1.

The law forbids internet companies from providing underage users with products and services known to be addictive. It also stipulates that restrictions must be introduced on access to internet services and duration of use for minors playing games and using livestreaming, social media and audio/video services.

To prevent minors using adults' IDs to register, gaming companies must strictly implement the real-name registration mechanism, for example by requiring users to go through facial recognition procedures every time they log on, Zhao said.

He added that government regulators should impose heavy fines on enterprises that fail to follow the new policy.