The observatory.. Chinese media opens fire on "digital opium"

In an unprecedented move, the official media in China launched a strong attack on digital games, which led to confusion of companies that provide games on the Internet.

The matter became confused with the major Chinese gaming companies, last week, after a newspaper article was published in which the writer described Internet games as a digital “opium”.

This led to a significant decline in the stock of Tencent, the leader in this field.

However, the official newspaper, Economic Information Daily, retracted two days after its fierce attack on the digital video game giants, which are accused of allowing gaming addiction among young people;

I tried to tone it down.

However, Tencent has begun to implement stricter measures, according to the National Press and Publication Administration's guidelines, on youth online games.

Children between the ages of 12 and 16 will be allowed to spend only 50 yuan (7.80 US dollars), at a time, and 200 yuan per month;

For those aged between 16 and 18, it set a fee of 100 yuan per in-game purchase, and 400 yuan per month.

Game companies will also ask to identify the faces of suspicious players who play late at night.

NetEase said it was also removing accounts and posts that conflict with its gaming and social content guidelines.

Anti-addiction technology measures will also be enhanced during the summer holidays to limit access to games, using artificial intelligence and data capabilities to prevent minors from using adult ID cards.

The state media's attack on the online gaming industry comes one week after Chinese tech stocks suffered massive sell-offs and recorded a loss of hundreds of billions of dollars in market value.

The Economic Information Daily said that no industry or sport could be allowed to develop in a way that "kills a generation".

In recent years, the Chinese government has sought to reverse what it sees as a growing trend of gaming addiction among young people.

It seems that the Chinese authorities wanted to sound the alarm through their media arms, which initiated the unprecedented attack on digital game companies, which are now reaping huge revenues, in exchange for providing games that negatively affect the psychological and physical health of children and adolescents.

Although the Chinese media is not authorized to address such issues in this way, except with an official injunction, the goal, in the end, is to rein in these companies, which have become a real danger to the future of an entire generation.

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