China Wants Mobile Devices To Limit Usage Time For Minors, Ensure They Only See Nice Content

The Cyberspace Administration of China last week released guidelines that suggest mobile devices be equipped with "minors mode" that enforces both censorship and automatic usage time limits.

The proposed plan outlines daily usage limits of an hour for children under 16, and up to two hours for those aged 16 to 18. The system will also block apps between 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM – unless parental exemptions are granted.

After 30 minutes of continuous use by a minor, the device should give a reminder to rest.

"When the recommended daily usage time is exceeded, all applications except for certain necessary applications and applications with parental custom exemptions will be suspended by default," declared the CAC.

The regulator also wants minors mode to include a content filter that ensures only age-appropriate material reaches young eyeballs. That means "children's songs, enlightenment education and other parent-child companionship content, mainly audio" for toddlers, and "general education, subject education, knowledge popularization, life skills, entertainment content with positive guidance, and news and information suitable for the cognitive ability" for 12- to 16-year-olds.

And of course, content should "promote the core socialist values and advanced socialist culture," while it "cultivates minors' patriotism."

In the underage mode, private messengers from strangers or specific users can be blocked, as can visibility on social media.

The Administration stipulates that basic communication products and services – such as text messages, calls, voice, and contacts – will remain usable, for safety reasons. Registered educational services will also be exempt from the automatic shutdown.

Most mobile OSes allow parents to restrict children's activities. But China's move goes beyond mandating that sort thing, with what Beijing has labelled a "three-party collaboration" that will see device makers, app developers and app stores work together to develop minor mode and manage parent complaints.

The trio will have to collaborate and make sure the mode is interoperable across the many different screens on which a child might get their hands. "Automatic switching" is called for – meaning when a phone in a minor's hand is powered on, it automatically updates linked devices and apps.

Although the CAC is usually strict in its directive to industry, it's currently being softer on its requirements about minors mode. The feature will be initiated by parents, who can choose not to activate it.

Parents can also exit the mode using passwords, fingerprints or facial recognition.

And because some children are clever and sneaky, the mode must have an anti-bypass function. It requires parental verification to exit or restore settings, ensures the minors mode icon is always visible and cannot be hidden, and prevents modifications to the system date and time.

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The requirement is a tall order, but so are many of the CAC's directives. In the past, it's asked for real-time censorship of satellite broadband, web giants to manage misinformation and fake news, AI generated content to only reflect socialist values, and widespread "clean ups" of the internet.

Other countries are also imposing requirements on platforms in efforts to protect minors – a worthy goal given the dangers excessive exposures to screens, internet and social media can create.

Earlier this month, the Australian government confirmed it will move ahead with a ban that prevents those under the age of 16 from using social media.

The nation's eSafety Commissioner will handle oversight and enforcement, while social media platforms themselves will be required to detect the age of users.

The Australian government has contributed to the effort by spending $6.5 million on an age assurance trial, for which it awarded a tender last week.

The UK's communications regulator, Ofcom, has also provided guidance on how online services could execute age verification. Some of the nation's MPs have also advocated for a total ban on smartphones until the age of 16. ®