The Morning After: China’s tech crackdown reaches TikTok
ByteDance has announced that Douyin, the version of TikTok for China, will introduce new limits for minors under 14. These minors will now be limited to just 40 minutes of use per day and can’t access the app at all between 10 PM and 6 AM.
ByteDance is also urging parents to add in more comprehensive user data to avoid kids lying about their age to get around the ban. At the same time, the company unveiled a new TikTok-esque app called Xiao Qu Xing (“Little Fun Star”), which offers short educational videos.
This is another fairly dramatic move as part of China’s broader crackdown on digital media and video games. Officials have recently described gaming as “spiritual opium” and limited kids playtime to just three hours a week.
Chinese leaders are reportedly concerned that children are becoming addicted to video games, which is having a detrimental effect on their development. The science behind video game addiction is controversial and disputed, with research into the condition ongoing.
Either way, the changes to Douyin aren’t likely to be that wide ranging in isolation since it’s thought that less than half a percent of users are under 14. It’s just the overall trend that’s …read more
