The Chinese government has decided to ban those under the age of 18 from playing online video games for more than 3 hours a week, with the aim of combating youth addiction to these practices.< /p>

Children will be allowed to play online for only one hour a day, between eight in the evening and nine in the evening, on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays exclusively, according to CNBC Arabia. .

Chinese regulator, the China Audio-Visual, Publishing and Broadcasting Authority, said in a statement that children will be allowed to play online for only one hour a day, between eight in the evening and nine in the evening. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays exclusively, ie a maximum of 3 hours per week.

On the rest of the week, online video games will not be available to under-18s. During school holidays, they will be able to play for an hour a day.

An official newspaper has revealed that video games have become a mental opiate. She especially cited in her article the likes of the giant Tencent and his popular online multiplayer game Honor of the Kings which has more than 100 million daily active users.

Some Chinese children hang out for days in front of their screens. This phenomenon has long been criticized in China for its negative consequences, such as poor eyesight, academic performance, lack of physical activity, or the risk of addiction. The laws originally prohibited minors from playing online between ten at night and eight in the morning.

This procedure initially applies to online video games only and not to games that do not require Internet play. Minors will have to sign in with an official identification document in order to prevent them from circumventing the ban, but the timeline for implementing the measure has not yet been set.

Under pressure, Tencent, which was beginning to enforce facial recognition to prevent minors from playing at night, as well as restrictions on playing time, has tightened these rules after more. To the extent of shortening the time allowed to play to one hour per day for minors.

These measures coincided with the authorities' growing assertiveness against the internet giants. Several giants in this sector have been held accountable in recent months for practices that were until recently widely accepted, particularly those related to personal data and user rights.

Video games are very profitable in China, generating a turnover of $20 billion in the first half of 2021.