An announcement that is not without consequence. The Chinese authorities have decided to restrict minors’ access to the Internet. People under the age of 18 will soon no longer be able to access the Internet at night on their ai and their daily connection time will be limited, according to new anti-addiction legislation unveiled on Wednesday August 2. Under these restrictions, which are expected to come into force on September 2 after a regulatory public consultation, no minor should be able to access the Internet via a mobile device between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
A system will also be introduced to limit the daily time of Internet connection on smartphones: 16-17 year olds will be entitled to two hours, compared to only 40 minutes for those under eight years old.
These new rules, proposed by the China Cyberspace Administration and which will be implemented through technical means, are among the strictest in the world in this area. However, parents can deactivate them if they wish.
According to China’s Cyberspace Administration, the new regulations will “create a safe and healthy Internet environment for minors”, following other measures taken in recent years to “reduce the addition of minors to the Internet”. China has issued numerous rules in recent years along these lines.
In Hong Kong, Tencent stock (video game, messaging, online payment) lost nearly 3% and Baidu stock (search engine, artificial intelligence) lost 3.75%.
