In recent years, as more and more minors have begun to contact and use the Internet, online entertainment activities represented by playing games and watching short videos have become an important way for minors to relax and relax. How to better protect minors in the digital world has also become a topic of increasing concern and attention around the world.
China's measures to protect minors online have attracted attention
Many countries are exploring and experimenting with the protection of minors online. At the end of last year, the Spanish Department for the Protection of Minors and the Spanish Data Protection Agency concluded an agreement with 131 entities on the use of electronic devices by adolescents, with 15 specific measures, according to the website of the Spanish newspaper El Mundo. This is the first time that a major social agreement has been reached in Spain on the use of electronics.
The Telegraph and other recent reports in the UK have said that UK ministers are considering a proposal to ban children under the age of 16 from buying mobile phones to protect young people from the harmful effects of social media. In addition, the UK government is also planning to introduce a new bill that will give parents more power to regulate their children's online activities. These initiatives are designed to keep children safe online. Several states in the U.S. have passed laws restricting teens' use of social media, although these measures are likely to be challenged legally.
As a major Internet country with nearly 200 million underage Internet users and an Internet penetration rate of 97.2%, China has long attached great importance to the cyber security of minors, and has taken the lead in making many explorations and practices.
In recent years, China's measures to strengthen the protection of minors online have been continuously strengthened and have achieved remarkable results. As early as 2021, the National Press and Publication Administration issued the "Notice on Further Strict Management and Effectively Preventing Minors from Becoming Addicted to Online Games" to effectively protect the physical and mental health of minors. According to an August 2022 report on the website of Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, analysts said that 77% of Chinese teenage gamers have seen a reduction in the amount of time they spend playing each week since the rule came into effect.
In August last year, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) released the Guidelines for the Establishment of Mobile Internet Models for Minors (Draft for Solicitation of Comments), which once again attracted widespread attention. "There are discussions about the over-reliance of children and adolescents on smartphones, but only China is currently considering a regulation to limit the amount of time they spend on their phones," lamented the Russiya Gazeta website. ”
Agence France-Presse also reported that the new rules are among the strictest in the world. These provisions will enhance the positive role of the Internet, create a good online environment, and guide minors to develop good online habits. AFP also noted that China has imposed extensive regulation of the domestic technology industry in recent years, in part because of concerns about the risks that digital technology poses to the growth of minors.
On January 1, 2024, China's first comprehensive legislation on the protection of minors online, the Regulations on the Protection of Minors Online, came into effect, which stipulates a number of contents, including the promotion of minors' online literacy and the prevention and control of online addiction, which also marks a new stage in the construction of the rule of law for the protection of minors online in China.
Anti-addiction measures continue to escalate, and the prevention and control still requires the joint efforts of the whole society
In addition to the continuous introduction and improvement of relevant measures at the government level, China's game companies and Internet companies are also actively implementing relevant policies, and continue to upgrade online protection measures for minors by deploying and implementing online game addiction prevention systems, strengthening real-name systems and identity authentication, increasing parental co-management functions, and restricting the duration of use and consumption amounts.
Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao also noted that some Chinese game manufacturers have also applied AI technology to the field of online protection of minors. For example, NetEase Games will use "AI patrolmen" to assist in identifying underage gaming behaviors. Its AI juvenile protection system is developed based on a deep learning model, with AI recognition of juvenile protection system and intervention model for underage players' irrational consumption.
But at the same time, with the strengthening of anti-addiction measures, some measures that try to circumvent the restrictions, such as impersonating adults to register for games, and even allowing adults, especially the elderly, to "brush their faces" have become risk points in the current anti-addiction work for minors. The "2023 Progress Report on the Protection of Minors in China's Game Industry" points out that the protection of minors is still facing many challenges such as mobile phone face recognition, abnormal consumption refunds and identity verification, and a large number of work practices show that this will still be a long-term and systematic project.
In this regard, many enterprises have also continued to upgrade through technological iteration and system construction, and strive to build solid measures for the protection of minors. For example, in view of the discovery of a number of cases of "minors impersonating the identity of the elderly to play games" in the "face cruise", NetEase's "Egg Boy Party" has created a special protection function for this situation, and for users over 70 years old, face recognition is mandatory when registering. Netease Games said that "Egg Boy Party" attaches great importance to elderly players, and the system does not prohibit the registration of the elderly, but for users over 70 years old, face recognition verification will be mandatory in the game registration process, and after passing the face verification, users can log in to the game normally for the experience, "For elderly users, the mandatory face verification of registration is for the purpose of consolidating the choice of minors to prevent addiction."
Industry insiders believe that behind the measure of "Egg Boy Party" to "fully pop up face recognition for registered users over 70 years old" is a common phenomenon faced by the game industry such as "backdoor" registration of minors. From the point of view of game companies, its core is to protect minors from addiction, so as to prevent minors from indulging in games, excessive recharge and other problems. Game manufacturers should also take into account their own circumstances, balance privacy protection issues while innovating measures to protect minors, grasp the application scale of facial recognition technology, and strictly abide by the Personal Information Protection Law and other legal provisions.
However, as clearly stated in the Regulations on the Protection of Minors Online, the protection of minors online is a systematic project that requires the joint efforts of all parties. While the state and game companies play an active role, assistance and supervision from families and schools are also indispensable.
According to the 2023 Progress Report on the Protection of Minors in China's Game Industry, some parents have allowed their children to use them fraudulently, weakening the monitoring and supervision role of enterprises and anti-addiction systems.
The website of Rossiya Gazeta also pointed out in an analysis of issues such as mobile phone addiction among minors that the fight against mobile phone addiction will be ineffective without the support of families. Psychologist Natalia Kazanskaya was quoted as saying: "The problem is definitely there, but it cannot be solved by bans and restrictions alone. The family plays a key role here, and it is in the family that the child learns to play, communicate, and acquire all the basic skills...... Don't expect today's kids to find alternatives to their phones on their own, they need help...... If parents can find a variety of fun activities, children will learn this way. ”
Industry insiders said that the protection of minors is not just a technical issue, and it is a consensus to build a strong line of defense for minors online in the form of social co-governance. On the one hand, game companies and platforms, as important entities, should adhere to relevant policies, consolidate responsibilities, and do a good job of preventing minors from becoming addicted. On the other hand, the protection of minors and the prevention of game addiction require the joint efforts of families, schools and other social forces to jointly build a solid bottom line for the protection of minors. (Wen Feng)