| Abstract: |
Background: Playing video games is a popular activity globally across age
groups. Concerns have been raised about potentially problematic engagement
both in terms of spending too much time (‘gaming disorder’ as defined by the
World Health Organization) and money, including on gambling-like in-game
purchases, such as loot boxes. Giving games different advisory age ratings
based on their potentially problematic content and advising consumers and
parents as to what age group the game is suitable for is a non-restrictive
policy approach that is widely adopted internationally. In contrast, aiming to
address ‘internet addiction’ and ‘excessive monetary spending, ’ East Asian
countries have adopted (and in the South Korean case since repealed) stricter
legal restrictions on how long and when young people can play video games for
and how much money they are permitted to spend. These restrictions are
enforced by software means through age assurance and identity verification
procedures. A prominent example is how Mainland China restricts under-18s from
playing online games except for one hour only between 8–9 PM on Fridays,
weekends, and public holidays. Different monetary spending limits are also
imposed against children based on age groups. Previous research presented
conflicting evidence as to whether restrictions on gameplay time were
beneficial, suggesting some young people circumvent the restrictions.
Objective: Policy implementation evidence can inform both future domestic and
international policymaking (including repealing ineffective policies). Whether
and how major technology companies implement age ratings, age assurance, and
identity verification procedures to enforce video game-related regulatory
restrictions in Mainland China were novelly assessed. Methods: The 100
highest-grossing Mainland Chinese iPhone games on 5 January 2024 per data.ai
formed the sample. For each game, any age rating-related information was
recorded, and the presence of any identity verification procedure was
determined through content analysis of the account creation process. Results:
Confusingly, two age rating systems often providing conflicting information
were presented simultaneously to Mainland Chinese consumers. As required,
95.0% of games conducted identity verification. However, 5.0% of games were
accessible without the user having been required to complete identity
verification processes, in breach of regulations. Conclusions: The
implementation of a single, unified, and culturally appropriate age rating
system that includes an adult-only rating would ensure better child
protection. The currently widely adopted identity verification process has
many flaws, including being easily circumventable. Actionable improvements,
such as transmitting sensitive personal data only to a third-party identity
verification provider rather than many individual video game companies, are
recommended. The age assurance-related policy implementation insights from the
Mainland Chinese video game restriction context are also relevant to
technology regulation globally: many other countries are depending on such
software solutions to address online harms young people might encounter,
ranging from pornography to online gambling. |