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# Chinese minors will only be able to play video games three hours a week
The share value of several companies has already fallen after the rules were tightened
Chinese authorities have banned children under the age of 18 from playing video games for more than three hours a week, for only one hour on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays between 8 pm and 9 pm. Another hour "belongs" to them for the holiday. Teenagers are outraged, company stocks have already fallen.
Under the 2019 rules, until now, minors could play games for up to an hour and a half every day, and for the holidays, three hours.
The new rules, released on Monday, are part of a broader effort to increase control over society and key sectors of the economy, including technology, and education after those sectors expanded uncontrollably in recent years. Beijing argues that rules are needed to reduce the growing proliferation of games that they labeled "spiritual opium" weeks ago.
The People's Daily, the official newspaper of the ruling Communist Party, reported on Monday that the government needed to be ruthless. "It is undeniably true that online games affect the normal life, the physical and mental state of teenagers. The destruction of a teenager means the destruction of the family," the newspaper writes.
Chinese teenagers are furious. "Has this group of grandparents who adopts rules and regulations ever played games? Do you understand that the best age for games is adolescence?" is one of the records on the Weibo network (Chinese Twitter). "Age 14 is allowed for sex, you can work at 16, and you have to be 18 to play games? That's a joke!"
The gaming restriction, which applies to all devices, including mobile phones, is a big blow to the billion-dollar gaming industry. The share value of several companies has already fallen. The introduction of rules regarding gaming coincides with the introduction of restrictions imposed by the state against technology giants such as Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings.
Game providers will thus be prohibited from providing services to minors outside certain hours, while at the same time providing a system for verifying the identity of players so that they will not be able to abuse the rules by using different usernames. At the same time, many users on the networks have announced that they will use their parents' usernames and passwords, which are not subject to restrictions.
## continue reading:
* [https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/6080716.html](https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/6080716.html)
* [https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-rolls-out-new-rules-minors-online-gaming-xinhua-2021-08-30/](https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-rolls-out-new-rules-minors-online-gaming-xinhua-2021-08-30/)
* [https://www.npr.org/2021/08/30/1032489883](https://www.npr.org/2021/08/30/1032489883)
* [https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/30/china-to-ban-kids-from-playing-online-games-for-more-than-three-hours-per-week.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/30/china-to-ban-kids-from-playing-online-games-for-more-than-three-hours-per-week.html)
* [https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2021/08/30/china-video-games-kids-ban-weekday/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2021/08/30/china-video-games-kids-ban-weekday/)
* [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/30/china-cuts-amount-of-time-minors-can-spend-playing-video-games](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/30/china-cuts-amount-of-time-minors-can-spend-playing-video-games)
* [https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-sets-new-rules-for-youth-no-more-videogames-during-the-school-week-11630325781](https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-sets-new-rules-for-youth-no-more-videogames-during-the-school-week-11630325781)
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