Beijing sets up website for public to report gaming company ‘irregularities’ as anti-addiction drive ramps up

China’s gaming industry regulator has created a special website that encourages the public to report companies for any violation of state regulations designed to protect kids from video gaming addiction.

The website, officially named “reporting platform for gaming companies implementation of anti-addition regulations”, was created by the National Press and Publication Administration (NAPP) and is currently in “trial operations”.

Anyone with a Chinese ID and a mobile phone number can report gaming company irregularities to the regulator through the website. Reported irregularities are grouped into three types; whether an online game has fully implemented real name registration requirements; whether an online game has implemented time limits of only three play hours to gamers under 18 each week; and whether an online game has stopped teenagers from spending too much money on it.

The website appears designed to support last month’s new regulations from Beijing, which limit gaming time for players aged under 18 to between 8pm and 9pm on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. The rules also cap online game spend to 200 yuan a month for those aged between 8 and 16 years’ old and 400 yuan per month for those aged between 16 and 18.

The rules, some of the strictest in the world and aimed at preventing gaming addiction among minors, are part of a broad effort by the Chinese authorities to align people’s online activities with the state’s future needs. President Xi Jinping said at a meeting in Beijing in March that teenage addiction to video gaming was a social problem that must be addressed.