Tech shares fall as China mulls child smartphone limits

Chinese tech shares decreased after the nation’s internet regulator suggested restricting smartphone use by kids under 18.

On Wednesday, stock of companies like Alibaba and the video-sharing website Bilibili dropped, and on Thursday, they lost even more.

Children would only be permitted to use their apps for a maximum of two hours per day under the proposed legislation.

It has been four years since gambling restrictions were imposed on kids in the nation’s second-largest economy.

Children will also be prohibited from accessing the internet on mobile devices between 22:00 and 06:00 local time under the rules proposed by the Cyberspace Administration of China( CAC ).

The CAC’s proposal calls for industry participants, such as manufacturers of mobile phone devices, software developers, and app stores, to create a feature called” minor mode” to set use boundaries, which change with age.

Children under the age of eight will only be given eight minutes of screen time per day, while those between the age of 16 and 18 will have two days.

The request is now available for public comment.

According to Ray Wang, the founder and CEO of Silicon Valley-based firm Constellation Research, tech giants will likely be held accountable for enforcing the rules, much like how it handled game restrictions.

There are alternatives, of program. Although children can access their parents’ devices’ passwords, the general consensus is that games restrictions have been very well put into place, according to Mr. Wang.

On Wednesday, Alibaba’s stock closed in Hong Kong more than 3 % lower. That of Bilibili decreased in the region by almost 7 %.

By midday on Thursday, Bilibili was over by 0.5 % while Alibaba was trading about 2 % lower.

Tencent, a tech behemoth, had shares that closed about 3 % lower but were 0.1 % higher in Hong Kong.

According to authorities, video game addiction is harmful to children’s health, so China has taken some steps to reduce it.