Chinese regulators have proposed regulations that would restrict smartphone usage among those under 18 to no more than two hours per day. This highly ambitious draft law provided by the powerful Cyberspace Administration of China demonstrates the government's desire to keep tight supervision over digital activities in the nation. The CAC's proposed guidelines encapsulate China's ambition to reduce and stop the dependence of those aged under 18 on phone applications and cell phones.
Chinese regulators have proposed rules that would cap smartphone screen time for underage users at two hours per day. The draft regulation, promulgated by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), demonstrates Beijing's goal of tightening oversight of the nation's digital sphere. Should the rules become law, they could affect businesses such as Tencent and ByteDance, which offer some of China's most popular mobile apps. In 2021, China implemented rules restricting video game play among those younger than 18 to three hours or less per week. Facing the possibility of further restrictions, major Chinese internet companies began taking steps to pre-empt regulators.
The drafted rules necessitate the installation of a “minor mode” for those aged under 18 on all smartphones, enabling parents to monitor what their children view while allowing online service providers to show content according to the age of the user. For instance, the CAC outlined that children aged 3 or below should be presented with songs and audio-focused material, while those aged between 12 and 16 can be exposed to educational and news content. The CAC has sternly warned online companies against providing services that could lead to addiction or endanger the physical and emotional wellbeing of minors.
The CAC's draft rules divide children into different age categories and assign different limits to how much they are allowed to use their phone depending on their age. Children aged under eight should be restricted to a maximum of 40 minutes of phone usage daily. For those aged eight but under 16, the maximum is one hour per day, and for those aged 16-17, two hours. From 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., devices should not provide any services to children, unless they are regulated education products or emergency services applications. A parent must provide verification for any attempts to remove the minor mode on the device. The rules have not been finalized and are open to public consultation.
Questions remain over how the proposed legislation would be put into practice and what effect this could have on China's technology giants. For example, it is not certain whether the creation of a 'minor mode' would be the responsibility of the device's operating system provider or manufacturer, such as Apple. How the time limits and the minor mode software are monitored by the Chinese Cyberspace Administration will need to be fleshed out. Technology leaders in the China like Apple and Xiaomi, as well as Tencent and Baidu, are paying close attention to the bill's development. Two years ago when China began enforcing measures that limit the gaming time of minors, Tencent and NetEase, two of the leading global online gaming companies, revealed that children under 18 years of age accounted for a minor percentage of their overall income.
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