People’s Daily hits out at Big Tech’s ‘youth modes’ for gaming and short video in another shot across the bows
- Many ‘youth modes’ can be easily bypassed by teenage internet users through simple workarounds, the state newspaper said
- Gaming youth modes have been thrust into the spotlight recently following a public interest lawsuit this month against Tencent
According to a commentary in the People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, the “youth modes” deployed by Chinese internet platforms to protect teenagers from gaming addiction and inappropriate short videos, do not go far enough, signalling that Big Tech will likely have to do more to safeguard minors and appease regulators.
Many “youth modes” can be easily bypassed by teenage internet users through simple workarounds, the state newspaper said. The article comes at a time when the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the top cyberspace regulator, is checking whether technology firms are following Beijing’s instructions to limit the time kids spend on short videos, social networking sites and video games.
“While the youth modes have apparently accumulated a significant number of users, many problems still persist, with some youth modes being criticised by parents as ‘existing in name only’ ,” the article said.
It cited the case of a father in Guangxi, who said, “I don’t know how my son came to know the password that I’ve set and he flat-out disabled the youth mode in these mobile games. He even said that some classmates of his have bought hack tips from the internet to bypass the ‘youth mode’.”
“All the different kinds of ‘youth mode’ vary in their performance. However, in areas such as precise targeting, mode settings and mode performance, some improvements need to be made,” said the People’s Daily article.