TikTok Imposes 40-Minute Limit For Younger Users In China
Image via Funstock / Shutterstock.com
In August, China introduced new regulations to limit children aged 18 years old and younger to just three hours of online gaming time per week.
Now, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance has announced that it will limit the use of the social media platform to 40 minutes a day in the country, for anyone under the age of 14.
The new rules will see restricted users only being allowed to access the app between 6am and 10pm.
Interestingly, TikTok goes by another name—Douyin—in China, which ,according to Input, functions just like the one we use, but with stricter moderation. Any content with references to the Chinese Communist Party is blocked. Plus, users have to provide their real names in order to sign up for an account.
With Facebook recently admitting that apps like Instagram make teens “feel worse,” this move by the Chinese government could actual prove beneficial for the mental health of youth there.
While the approach could be viewed as too draconian by the west, it does start a much-needed discussion for how much time young people are spending online.
Will a country in the Americas or Europe ever impose a tech limit on youth in their country? It seems unlikely, though China’s overt concern for the ill effects of video games and social media is certainly food for thought.
[via Input, cover image via Funstock / Shutterstock.com]
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