62.5% of underage netizens often play games, countries make heavy blows to prevent indulging in online games
You who guard the boy
To prevent minors from indulging in online games, the state will act again.
On August 30, the National Press and Publication Administration issued the "Notice on Further Strict Management and Practically Preventing Minors from Indulging in Online Games" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), requiring strict restrictions on the time for providing online game services to minors. All online game companies can only provide one-hour service to minors from 20: 00 to 21: 00 every day on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and legal holidays.
The healthy growth of young people is not only a matter of individual families, but also the future of the country.
Why are online games easy to attract young people to indulge in it?
How should game companies assume their social responsibilities?
Protecting minors in a complex network environment requires the participation of the whole society.
Teenagers’ addiction to online games has seriously affected their study life and physical and mental health, and has become a pain in the hearts of the people
"When I play a game, my eyes are like'sticky' to my mobile phone." Ms. Liu, a Beijing citizen, told reporters that this year's third-grade daughter spends more than 5 hours a day playing games during summer vacation. ."
Like Ms. Liu, there are many parents who worry about their children indulging in online games.
“Recently, many parents have reported that some teenagers’ indulging in online games has seriously affected their normal study life and physical and mental health, and even caused a series of social problems, causing many parents to suffer miserably and become a pain in the hearts of the people. They hope to take practical measures. Strictly implement real-name verification, and further restrict and reduce the time period for providing online game services to minors." The person in charge of the State Press and Publication Administration explained the background of the "Notice".
Minors are an important user group of online games.
According to the “Research Report on National Minors Internet Usage in 2020” issued by the Youth Rights Protection Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League and China Internet Network Information Center, 62.5% of the minors currently using the Internet will often play online games. The proportion of playing mobile games is 56.4%.
Li Pujing, a senior high school student in Putian City, Fujian Province, told reporters that many of his classmates play online games.
In the past summer vacation, some students spent most of their time on games.
Speaking of the attractiveness of online games to young people, Li Pujing said that fierce competitive confrontation, exquisite and cool picture quality and special effects are all very important factors. In addition, the current game promotion can be seen everywhere, and there will be some deep The celebrities and animations that are loved by teenagers are linked with each other.
In 2019, the National Press and Publication Administration issued regulations requiring online game companies to provide game services to minors for a period of no more than 3 hours per day during statutory holidays, and no more than 1.5 hours per day at other times.
In this regard, many parents reflect that the standard is still relatively loose, and it is recommended to strictly reduce it.
In addition, although some game platforms have set up an "anti-addiction system" that restricts minors' play time through real-name authentication and other methods, many minors still use identity information found online to bypass system restrictions.
Some criminals use software to crack the face recognition in the anti-addiction system of online games for minors, and some even defraud the minors of money under the pretence of cracking the anti-addiction system of online games.
Ms. Qiu, who lives in Fengtai District, Beijing, told reporters that her son entered the first year of high school this year, but he has been exposed to online games since the first and second grades of elementary school.
"Nowadays, children are exposed to electronic products early, and the time to "enlighten" the game is also early. Children can always pass the level that adults can't pass."
Moreover, because young people have a strong ability to imitate, they are more likely to be affected by games.
"After playing the game, maybe because he is used to the high-intensity fighting pictures in the game, his temper has become louder, his voice has become louder, and sometimes some disrespectful words will appear for his parents. As long as he is not allowed to play the game, he The mood is very emotional.” Ms. Qiu said, very much hope that the country will increase efforts to rectify.
Online game designers set up a large number of "addiction points" based on people's psychological characteristics, and teenagers with weak self-control and low self-protection consciousness are more likely to "be hooked"
From the first online game "Space War", which was born in 1969, to some of the current popular mobile games "Honor of Kings" and "Peace Elite", online games have been extended from computers to mobile phones.
"Online games can quickly encircle new players by virtue of simple operation and quick start. Each user can easily compete with others in the game. Secondly, online games usually use a variety of links and game mode settings, which greatly reduces The possibility of players getting bored, and the stickiness of users is high." said Kuang Wenbo, a professor at the School of Journalism of Renmin University of China and a researcher at the Center for Journalism and Social Development Research.
In addition, many online games have become a new social method, making it more difficult for young people to "let go."
Every generation of teenagers will have their own games, and many people have experienced the school age of reading martial arts novels all night and watching cartoons and TV series all day.
However, in terms of game fun and addiction, novel TV and online games are not on the same order of magnitude.
Industry insiders told reporters that game designers will set up incentive feedback mechanisms one after another according to the psychological characteristics of people to induce users to deepen the stimulus at the point of attraction.
Design points such as "equipment", "ranking", "skills", "rewards", and "activities" have allowed people to continuously gain a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment in the game, thereby making people more "unwilling to let go".
This kind of psychologically-designed induction mechanism brings about the power of addiction, not only for teenagers, but sometimes even adults can hardly resist it.
"Game addiction is also related to the psychological development and changes in adolescence. Adolescent students are rebellious, curious, thirsty for autonomy, low self-control, insufficient self-protection awareness, and are more likely to indulge in the process of experiencing excitement and thrills in the form of role-playing. , Gain control and sense of accomplishment.” said Peng Xin, a psychologist at the Addiction Medicine Center of the General Hospital of Beijing Military Region and the Chinese Youth Psychological Growth Base.
In June 2018, the WHO announced that gaming addiction was included in the International Classification of Diseases. The symptoms of gaming addiction listed by the organization include: playing video games uncontrollably, and placing video games in other lives more and more often Before interest, continue or increase the time of playing video games even if there are negative consequences.
What harm can game addiction cause?
"Minors addicted to online games will not only lead to a decline in academic performance, but also have a huge impact on their minds and emotions. For example, minors will imitate violence and bloody behavior in games." Shanghai Law Society minors Xi Peizhi, deputy secretary-general of the Human Law Research Society, said that a 17-year-old child he had come into contact with played CS (counter-strike) games in an Internet cafe for 3 consecutive days. He had a conflict with others when he went out to eat. He picked up the stool next to him and hit the opponent's head and beat him repeatedly.
Afterwards, he said that he mistakenly thought he was still in the game.
The involvement of capital is an important factor for young people to indulge in online games, and relevant companies should assume social responsibilities, not just for profit.
Who is responsible for minors who are addicted to online games?
According to Professor Yuan Zhijie, the deputy dean and professor of the Law School of Beijing Normal University, the involvement of capital is one of the important factors for young people to indulge in online games.
With overwhelming advertisements, designed addictive mechanisms, and a large number of online naval forces, game design companies often deliberately induce players to fall into it by creating emotional resonance and economic value in the game world.
As early as March 2019, led by the National Internet Information Office, the main short video platform and live broadcast platform piloted the "Youth Mode", which regulated the online behavior of young people in terms of usage time, duration, functions, and browsing content, but The effect is not ideal.
Zhu Wei, deputy director of the Communication Law Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law, believes that although the anti-addiction system and the youth model have been written into legal regulations, in reality, "multi-account switching", "one person with multiple accounts", and "personal accounts inconsistent" have been found to be evasive techniques. means.
In Xi Peizhi's view, the "Notice" is a regulation of enterprises and capital.
"From our investigations and visits, there is a market of hundreds of billions of yuan behind online games. The "Notice" sets clear boundaries on the content provided by online game companies. The domain is reckless and reckless."
The larger the platform, the greater the social and moral responsibilities it should bear.
"On the issue of minors indulging in online games, relevant companies should assume their social responsibilities, not just profit." Zhao Hongzhi, deputy secretary-general of the China Cyberspace Security Association, believes that game companies need to be clear-headed and actively fulfill their social responsibilities. To contribute to the healthy development of the industry, but also to be responsible for the healthy growth of the next generation.
On June 1 this year, my country’s newly revised Law on the Protection of Minors was officially implemented. The newly added "Network Protection" section clearly stated that network service providers such as online games, online live broadcasts, online audio and video, and online social networking should target minors. People use their services to set up corresponding time management, authority management, consumption management and other functions.
At present, the "youth mode" introduced or upgraded by various online platforms is a typical anti-addiction system for minors.
In the era of big data, it is even more necessary to strengthen the guidance and assistance for young people, and the safety of minors’ Internet use should be paid attention to by families, schools, etc.
The growth of minors has always been a hot spot of social concern.
Today's young people are in the era of "digital, networked, and intelligentized in-depth development". While enjoying the benefits of technological development, they also need active guidance and help from all parties.
On March 6, when General Secretary Xi Jinping visited the medical and health education members who participated in the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, he pointed out: “Not only is it a problem of indulging in online games, there are also many dirty things on the Internet. Minors’ mental development is immature and easy. Are adversely affected. These problems are social problems and require the joint efforts of all sectors of society and relevant departments to study and solve them."
In order to create a good online environment for minors, the Central Cyberspace Administration of China recently launched a special action to focus on solving 7 types of prominent online problems that endanger the physical and mental health of minors.
One of the important contents is the insufficient performance of the anti-addiction system and the "teenage model".
In the era of big data, the content that young people see, the information they receive, and the topics they participate in are mostly selected by algorithms and data.
"The primary responsibility of the Internet platform to implement legal obligations is to use big data and algorithms as filters for bad information on the Internet, and never allow bad information to enter the eyes of minors through popular, hot searches, recommendations, keywords, etc." Zhu Wei said that there is a huge amount of information on the Internet and a mixture of fish and dragons. The platform should fully consider the stages and particularities of the physical and mental development of minors to protect the legitimate rights and interests of young people.
"Currently, the content classification of the online platform'Youth Mode' is not perfect. Some content is beyond the acceptance of young children, and some content cannot meet the needs of young people for high-quality information. The introduction and classification of high-quality content requires educational experts and the Internet. Build a platform together.” Ye Weiming, associate professor of finance and media major at Peking University’s HSBC Business School, suggested that minors’ online safety issues should also receive attention from families and schools. “High-quality face-to-face conversations are the foundation for establishing intimate relationships. Parents should not only be wary of children's addiction to mobile phones, but also pay attention to whether their attention is taken away by mobile phones, and give their children more attention and company."
"Compared with the law, it is the guardian who can really control the children playing games, generally the parents." Yuan Zhijie said, "We are not worried about the children playing, we are worried that the children will be addicted to it and unable to extricate themselves. So the law needs to intervene not the game. In itself, it is the addiction system and inducement mechanism in modern games."
The relevant person in charge of the State Press and Publication Administration also stated that online game addiction is a social problem, and anti-addiction work is a systematic project that requires the joint efforts of all sectors of society.
On the one hand, the government and industry must always put the prevention of addiction as the top priority of game management, strictly implement the system and implementation of anti-addiction management, and solidly promote the prevention of addiction; on the other hand, to prevent minors from indulging in online games, parents are required , Teachers better perform their duties of guardianship and education, effectively assume the legal responsibility of protecting minors, strengthen care and accompany and restraint norms, and guide children to form good living habits and habits of using the Internet.
Our reporter Li Yunshu