The topic of protecting minors has once again become the focus of social attention.
On August 3rd, the Economic Information Daily published "Online Games Grow into Hundreds of Billions of Industries". The article points out that Internet addiction among minors is widespread at present, and online games have an inestimable impact on the healthy growth of minors.
In response to the topic of protecting minors in this report, 21st century business herald interviewed the relevant person in charge of the Game Working Committee of China Audio-visual and Digital Publishing Association. The person in charge told 21 reporters that at present, the work related to the protection of minors is continuing to advance, and game companies are actively implementing various anti-addiction work, and they should treat the role played by games in society with an objective and rational attitude.
The person in charge also revealed exclusively that the Game Working Committee has recently convened some key game companies and organized a closed-door seminar on online game addiction prevention. At the meeting, it was once again explicitly requested that all game companies should cover the standard on products in accordance with the planning schedule and in accordance with the requirements of quality and quantity.
Talking about online games:
Adhere to the healthy and reasonable consumption of content, and don’t regard the game as a scourge.
21st Century: What do you think of some metaphors about online games?
Head of Game Working Committee:We believe that we should treat it objectively. Over the years, the management of online games has been mainly carried out in two aspects, one is the healthy content, and the other is the reasonable consumption. Under the premise of strict management, the competent authorities also advocate the diversification of online games, emphasizing the most basic principle that online game works should follow — — Convey the correct orientation, pay attention to the cultural connotation, and spread the positive energy of upward goodness.
For example, we advocate the development of functional games and promote the combination of games with medical care, education, tourism and cultural creation, so that society and consumers can benefit from them and help people establish correct values.
"21st Century": It is mentioned in the report that in 1929 questionnaires about students’ playing time, 26.23% students play online games once every two or three days, and 11.66% students play online games almost every day. 53.91% play games for 1-2 hours every day, and 2.28% play games for more than 5 hours every day. What do you think of this survey?
Head of Game Working Committee:In some surveys of students playing online games, whether in provincial, prefecture-level cities or towns, from first-tier to fourth-tier cities, there will inevitably be deviations in statistical dimensions or data interfaces.
According to the data released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, by the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan, there were 6.436 million left-behind children in rural areas. Left-behind children in rural areas may have more opportunities and time to get in touch with online games because of the lack of guardian’s companionship and supervision, so the proportion of playing games may be higher.
From the management point of view, the competent authorities have clear requirements on the management measures and intensity of game publishing. Both the newly revised Law on the Protection of Minors, which was implemented on June 1 this year, and the provisions put forward in the Notice on Preventing Minors from Addicting to Online Games, which was issued by the State Press and Publication Administration in 2019, have clearly defined the length of play, in-game recharge behavior and curfew time for minors. Game enterprises should follow the principles, fulfill their duties and conscientiously implement various laws and regulations.
In fact, under the background that the protection of minors has been strengthened year by year, most domestic game companies can strictly implement various requirements, and the effect is still very obvious. For example, head enterprises have strict in-game screening systems, and once illegal users are found, they will take immediate measures. At the same time, the competent authorities are constantly strengthening the mechanism of beforehand, during and in post supervision.
Talking about not being insured:
A closed meeting has been held to implement the game anti-addiction work.
21st Century: During the summer vacation, did the Game Working Committee carry out any actions to urge game companies to protect minors?
Head of Game Working Committee:The Game Working Committee has been continuously promoting all kinds of work related to the protection of minors. With the official implementation of the newly revised Law on the Protection of Minors, we are also making efforts with all parties in the industry to protect minors. During this year’s ChinaJoy, the Game Working Committee convened some key game companies to hold closed-door seminars on online game addiction prevention.
At the beginning of the year, the Game Working Committee launched the promotion of the group standard of "Age Tips for Online Games", which has been deployed in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shaoxing and Xiamen. The so-called age prompt is mainly based on China’s national conditions, according to the growth characteristics of minors of different ages, to evaluate the types, content and functions of the game works and other factors, to prompt the age of the minors who are suitable for use, and to make a clear mark on the relevant interface of the game works. At present, more than 361 products of many key enterprises have been on-line for age tips, and more products will be on-line in the near future.
The Game Working Committee also cooperated with the head enterprises and social welfare organizations to launch the "Network Literacy Course", focusing on minors and people who lack network literacy knowledge, continuously paying attention to the education of minors in green grid, and exporting high-quality network literacy courses. In addition, the Game Working Committee and scientific research institutions organize and hold ideological and political literacy classes for game practitioners, and guide game enterprises and practitioners to insist on putting social benefits first through learning, firmly grasp the correct orientation, keep innovation, vigorously carry forward and cultivate socialist core values, and strive to achieve the organic unity of social benefits and economic benefits to ensure the sustained and healthy development of the industry.
21st Century: Will the Game Working Committee have any normal activities to protect minors?
Head of Game Working Committee:In the organization of activities, the Game Working Committee cooperated with People’s Daily to hold a social responsibility forum, and held a forum for the protection of minors with some game companies. In the form of case sharing, round-table forum and initiative release, it conveyed voices to all parties in the industry and actively promoted the efficient development of the "uninsured" work.
In the future work, we will closely cooperate with the industry authorities and local authorities, and add more activities with the theme of protecting minors and practicing corporate social responsibility in China Game Industry Annual Meeting, ChinaJoy and other brand activities, and invite more industry experts, game companies and mainstream media to participate, so as to send a strong voice to the society and promote the high-quality development of the industry.
"21st Century": It is understood that the Game Working Committee recently held a closed-door meeting to implement the game anti-addiction work. What new arrangements have been made for the game anti-addiction work at this closed-door meeting?
Head of Game Working Committee:In this closed meeting, the Game Working Committee invited some units and enterprises that participated in the formulation of standards to make a centralized summary of the progress of the previous group standards such as "Age Tips for Online Games", to understand and collect the problems encountered by enterprises in actual work, and also to inform enterprises of the problems and situations found by the Game Working Committee. From the overall direction, the social responsibility of game companies is constantly strengthening, and the work of preventing addiction in games is becoming more and more detailed.
In the next step, the Working Committee plans to let more game companies participate in the protection of minors, and explicitly requested at the meeting that all game companies should cover all products with good quality and quantity according to the planning schedule. Besides,We plan to launch age tips on the whole platform. The existing age tips are mainly designed for client games and mobile games. Next, we will plan to promote this standard on the host platform to achieve all-round protection for minors.
21st Century: How will the anti-addiction mechanism in China’s online games evolve in the future? From which aspects will it be further improved? What efforts should the Game Working Committee and all sectors of society make in this regard?
Head of Game Working Committee:In the future, the anti-addiction mechanism of online games in China will be more systematic, strict and perfect, and all the work carried out will be more specific and in-depth.The real-name authentication platform under the management of the State Press and Publication Administration has been completed, and the follow-up work will focus on this platform, complete the docking between game enterprises and this platform, and use this platform to set up the first "firewall" to prevent game addiction.
On July 29th, at the China International Digital Entertainment Industry Conference held in Shanghai, the competent authorities said that the national anti-addiction real-name authentication platform has been built, with more than 5,000 access enterprises and more than 10,000 games, and the game enterprises have moved from heteronomy to self-discipline, which has initially achieved the basic goal of anti-addiction work.
In addition, the work of age-appropriate tips needs to be further improved and strengthened. The Game Working Committee will speed up the promotion of age-appropriate tips in all game products, and take age-appropriate tips as one of the evaluation criteria, urging enterprises to set the content of games more carefully. At the same time, it will also help minors and their guardians to choose games that are more suitable for their age groups. After the age-appropriate prompt pilot work is mature, it will also be included in the version number audit system.
Judging from the specific requirements in the newly revised Law on the Protection of Minors, the prevention of addiction to minors’ games will be a long-term systematic project, which requires the joint efforts of the whole society and the support from the government, associations, parents, enterprises, media, schools and other aspects, and will continue to develop and improve over time to jointly build a healthy ecology to protect the growth of minors.
As an important bridge and channel, the Game Working Committee will promote enterprises to do a good job in the protection of minors, and advocate game enterprises to unswervingly become practical and responsible practitioners.
Author: Cai Shuyue, Zhu Weijing Editor: Cao Jinliang
