BEIJING, China: China has introduced a law forbidding those under 18 years of age from playing video games for more than three hours per week, which immediately caused shares in Tencent Holdings and other gaming companies to fall.
In an article on Monday, the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, said the rules were announced, claiming the government had to be “ruthless.”
The new rules are necessary to stop the growing addiction to “spiritual opium,” the government said.
However, young Chinese gamers criticized the move on social media, with one commenting on Weibo, “To this group of grandfathers and uncles who make these rules and regulations, have you ever played games? Do you understand that the best age for e-sports players is in their teens?”.
“Sexual consent at 14, at 16 you can go out to work, but you have to be 18 to play games. This is really a…
