Internet Access for Minors: China Proposes Two-Hour Daily Limit

On Wednesday, China released a new draft of legislation to keep track of how much time adolescents under the age of 18 spend on the Internet each day. The plan made by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) includes the implementation of a “minor mode,” which would limit the amount of time minors may spend on their mobile devices to just two hours and restrict the types of content they can view depending on their age.

Minors will not be permitted to access their mobile devices between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. under the new legislation. Instead, it will be the responsibility of the parents to enable minor mode on their own devices in order to “perform guardianship duties” and “guide minors to form good surfing habits,” according to the plan. The legislation will also require that smart mobile terminals, applications, and application distribution platforms offer a mechanism for parents to activate the minor mode, and they will also be required to put processes in place to address any complaints or reports involving minors. These requirements are in addition to the requirement that parents activate the minor mode for their children.

Minors will not be permitted to use their mobile devices between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. under the proposed new legislation. Instead, it will be the responsibility of the parents to enable minor mode on their own devices so that they can “perform guardianship duties” and “guide minors to form good surfing habits,” according to the plan. The legislation will also require that smart mobile devices, apps, and application distribution platforms offer a means for parents to activate the minor mode and that they put processes in place to manage any complaints or reports involving minors. This will be a requirement for smart mobile devices, applications, and application distribution platforms.

The platforms will be responsible for identifying any and all illegal information before it is downloaded onto the device of a kid. This includes “information that could impact the mental and physical well-being of minors,” although the regulation does not specify what explicitly falls under that category.

Different information is accessible based on the user’s “mental health development” to deal with the content, and the time restrictions will also be imposed based on the user’s age. These restrictions are divided into age categories. The proposed rule would limit smartphone use to 40 minutes per day for children under eight, one hour per day for children between the ages of eight and sixteen, and up to two hours per day for children between the ages of sixteen and eighteen.

If a child under the age of majority tries to use their device after the allotted time has passed, the child’s parent or guardian will be notified. If the child wants to obtain permission to extend the amount of time they can spend using the internet, they will need to legally send a request for exceptions to their parent or guardian for them to sign off on.

The regulation also details the age-based information services, recommending that children under the age of three have access to children’s songs and enlightenment education; recommending that children aged eight to twelve see general education and life skills; and stating that children aged eight to twelve will be able to watch news that the Chinese government considers appropriate for their age group.

The Chinese government is making yet another attempt to establish its control over its people by successfully passing a regulation that prevents children from gaming online for more than three hours a week. This particular policy regulates the amount of time that a child can spend playing online video games.

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