Chinese authorities on Wednesday summoned leading online game enterprises and platforms, including Tencent and NetEase, for talks.
These authorities include the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA), the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Online game companies and platforms for trading game accounts and game streaming were asked to profoundly understand the importance and urgency of preventing minors from online game addiction. They should implement relative regulations aimed at boosting youth development.
They were required to fully and faithfully impose the time limit on underage gamers and banned from providing online game account trading services for minors.
The authorities ordered the enterprises and platforms to tighten examination of the contents of their games. Obscene and violent content and those breeding unhealthy tendencies, such as money-worship and effeminacy, should be removed.
The platforms must also resist unfair competition to prevent excessive market concentration or even monopolies in the industry.
They were urged to break from the solitary focus of pursuing profit or attracting fans and other erroneous tendencies, and change game rules and designs inducing addictions.
Restrictions were demanded on game advertisements involving celebrity endorsement.
The platforms were asked to place stricter management on the services of livestreaming games, including banning large rewards and rewards from minors.
The Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee and the NPPA will work with relative departments and local authorities to strengthen supervision and deal with rule violations.
A platform for preventing online game addiction among minors will be launched to accept and process relevant clues, and companies failing to follow the requirements will be stringently punished.
