China Set to Impose Mobile Device Limits for Minors
mental health of young people. Chinese parents who have struggled to keep their children away from screens are looking forward to the change. “It would be great if there was a way to force him not to spend so much time online," Wang Yuefang, a shift manager at a textile factory in the southern manufacturing hub of Guangzhou, said of her 13-year-old son.
“He spends several hours a day scrolling and playing videogames. He’s been nearsighted since he was very young." China’s move breaks new ground as governments around the world wrestle with questions of whether, and how much, to regulate young people’s use of social media and the internet. The debate accompanies growing concern globally about internet addiction and other ills that have followed the rise of social media, such as soaring levels of teenage depression and impaired social skills.
In March, Utah Gov. Spencer Coxsigned a bill that prohibits social-media platforms from allowing access to users under 18 without parental consent. The law was cheered by local parents, but drew protests from some civil liberties groups that warned about the risks of cutting off LGBTQ children from sources of online support.
France approved a law in June mandating platforms like TikTok and Instagram to verify users’ ages and obtain parental consent for those under 15. China’s draft restrictions would limit children under eight to no more than 40 minutes a day on mobile devices, while minors ages 16 to 18 would be allowed up to two hours a day. Exceptions would be made for apps used in emergencies or for schooling.
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