Online game "age-appropriate tips" is not a trivial matter, and it is necessary to regulate according to law

A few days ago, the Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Commission issued a document exposing the chaos of the "age-appropriate prompt" labeling of online games, not only the same online game marked on different platforms with different age-appropriate prompt content, and even the age-appropriate prompt of a game with horror elements is directly marked as 3+, and the platform store customer service said that this is "the game manufacturer plans to label the setting by itself, and the platform cannot intervene.". The Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Commission hereby calls on game service providers to reasonably fulfill their age-appropriate reminder obligations and intuitively provide parents with reference standards for judgment and download.

The "age-appropriate tips" of online games are only a "small patch" set up in the special chapter on the "online protection" of minors in the new version of the "Law on the Protection of Minors" implemented in June 2021, just as the relevant departments previously summarized the "five musts' system for minors to live in hotels" according to the provisions of the "Law on the Protection of Minors" (and vigorously implemented nationwide), every progress, addition or deletion of the legal provisions should have been solemnly treated at the social level. From this point of view, the Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Commission's "fuss" on the "age-appropriate tips" of online games is not only a necessary reminder for game service providers and parents, but also has a clue value for the standardized development and supervision of the online game market.

In August 2021, the State Press and Publication Administration issued the Notice on Further Strict Management and Effectively Preventing Minors from Addicting to Online Games, which further reduced the time for online game enterprises to provide online game services to minors, from 13.5 hours a week to 3 hours. The issue of game length has been highly valued at the national level, and in addition to this, the "age-appropriate prompt" of online games may still be in a chaotic state. According to the "evidence" of the Consumer Protection Commission, not only are the age-appropriate prompt standards of some app stores different, but also game download channels including VIVO Mall, OPPO Mall, TAPTAP, Jiuyou, etc., and there is not even a "eye-catching age-appropriate prompt found on the game download homepage".

It is difficult to imagine that the "age-appropriate prompt" of the online game does not exist or is randomly marked, which is a legal obligation that clearly states that the game service provider "should" perform at the level of legal norms. Another worrying fact is that as of now, a group standard for "Online Game Age-appropriate Tips" led by the Game Working Committee of the China Music and Digital Association is still in the trial stage, and even if the relevant standards are fully promoted, their effectiveness level also determines that the relevant marking requirements may still lack the necessary binding force. According to the provisions of the National Standardization Law, standards include national standards, industry standards, local standards, group standards and other types, and even in the national standards there is a difference between mandatory standards and recommended standards, only mandatory standards have statutory mandatory binding force, industry standards, local standards, group standards and other "recommended standards" only encourage the use. What's more, even according to the group standard of "Online Game Age-appropriate Tips" that is now being piloted, the age-appropriate labeling of the game tries to standardize only the basic elements such as the scene and duration of the "age-appropriate prompt" of the online game, and the problems such as "3-year-old can play horror games" and "different platforms prompt different ages" may still be beyond the reach of such discoveries.

Returning to the law on the compulsory protection of minors at the legal level, for game service providers that violate the obligation of "age-appropriate reminders", the law not only clarifies the responsibility of departments including public security, internet information, telecommunications, news and publication, radio and television, culture and tourism to intervene in supervision and intervention "in accordance with the division of duties", but also sets up a number of penalties including ordering corrections, confiscation of illegal gains, fines of less than ten times, etc. For cases of refusal to correct or serious circumstances, it can also be ordered to suspend relevant business and stop business for rectification. Until the website is shut down, the business license and related licenses are revoked. From this point of view, the consumer protection commission's prompt may not only be an appeal to game manufacturers, but also provide law enforcement clues for the regulatory authorities.

The law is not enough to punish game manufacturers with "liver pain" space, the protection of minors, you may wish to come to a "chicken with a cattle knife". To a certain extent, being punished or even issued sky-high fines because the game's "age-appropriate prompt" is not standardized can also become a demonstration of the regulatory authorities tightening the fence for the protection of minors. Since the Internet era cannot completely cut off the connection between minors and online games, it is necessary to stricter supervision and law enforcement, starting from the details of standardizing "age-appropriate tips", and have more perfect and more serious law enforcement interventions in the words and deeds of online games.