TikTok's Chinese Version Limits Screen Time for Kids to 40 Minutes a Day

© REUTERS / Dado RuvicTikTok app is seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken, July 13, 2021
TikTok app is seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken, July 13, 2021 - Sputnik International, 1920, 20.09.2021
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The Chinese government introduced new regulations earlier this month, limiting video game play-time for kids to three hours a week. All video game companies providing services to kids under age 18 were also asked to connect to an “anti-addiction” system operated by the National Press and Publication Administration.
Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok owned by the Beijing-based company ByteDance, has introduced a new regulation to its "youth mode" segment, allowing children under 14 years of age to enjoy only 40 minutes of screen time every day between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.
This measure was undertaken to protect the youth from inappropriate content, Douyin said in a media statement.
According to the reports, ByteDance has now also rolled out a new youth-oriented version on Douyin, dubbed Xiao Qu Xing or ‘Little Fun Star’, that via its algorithm, promotes and prioritises more educational videos and allows users to like clips but not upload their own.
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To make sure the new caps are enforced, Douyin is asking parents to register their children with their real name and age.
The new regulation has been introduced at a time when Beijing continues to run campaigns to crack down on the influence of technology on young people in China while also keeping a check on cyber-offences and tech addiction.
While imposing a similar cap on the play-time of video games for kids, the Chinese government has said that young people are “still at the stage of physical and mental development” where their “self-control is relatively weak”, and as such, limiting video games will encourage them to “actively participate in physical exercise, social practice and various colourful, healthy and beneficial recreational activities”.
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