Being concerned about the internet addiction, China has taken initiatives to reduce mobile phone use among children. As part of this, China’s cyberspace regulator said people under the age of 18 should not have their phones in their hands for more than two hours a day. They have already started sending related messages to technology companies.
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said on Wednesday (Aug 2) that it plans to introduce a minor mode with smart device providers, whereby mobile device users under the age of 18 will not be able to use the internet between 10pm and 6am.
Not only this, but under the proposed reforms, companies supplying devices will also have to work with deadlines. Users aged 16 to 18 will be allowed 2 hours of phone use per day, children/teens aged 8 to 17 will be allowed 1 hour per day and children under the age of eight will only be allowed 8 minutes of phone use.
However, the CAC says, in special cases, parents can allow their children to use smartphones beyond this time.
Before this, in 2021, the Chinese government issued an online curfew on playing video games for those under 18 years of age. Platforms such as ByteDance and TikTok have also banned teens from using more than 40 minutes in compliance with Chinese government directives.
Chinese authorities have recently become concerned about the rate of Internet addiction among the country’s youth.
Researchers say, excessive use of mobile phones can cause problems like insomnia. Apart from this, it also has negative effects on mental health. It can affect your memory, losing your ability to think clearly. Even learning something new can reduce efficiency.