A new bill was passed in Japan that limits underage kids to only an hour of gaming a day and only 90 minutes of gaming on the weekend.
The bill was originally proposed several months ago, but it didn’t pass through parliament. However, this time around it managed to get through, as reported by Siliconera.
In addition to limiting game time to only 60 minutes during a weekday and 90 minutes on the weekends, the law will also prohibit kids from using their cellphones after 10:00pm. This new law only affects the Kagawa prefecture in Japan… for now.
According to Kagawa prefecture MP, Tokisada Akiyama, the evidence of support for the bill from the public was limited only to those in the assembly after the meeting, and wasn’t entirely transparent about the broad range of feedback from those who may have objected to the bill.
求めていたパブコメ全意見の公開について、回答がありました。
内容に愕然。簡単に言うと、
①開示は”検討委員のみ”
②18日13時〜19日17時の期間限定
(本会議はすでに終わってます)
③メモや口外はダメこれでは公開と言えません。
(個人情報の非開示は当然です)#ネット・ゲーム依存症対策条例 pic.twitter.com/4k9cLaH4Oe— 秋山ときさだ (@akym_tksd) March 17, 2020
This now means that Japan is in a similar bought as South Korea and China, both of whom also have been aggressively pursuing limitations of engagement from youth for interactive entertainment.
South Korea put it into law some years ago, but China’s youth curfews for gaming has been left up to the corporations, namely Tencent, who uses facial recognition software based on China’s Social Credit system to limit how much a child can play their games or use their services throughout the day. The child lock was instituted for those under the age of 13.
Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada was quick to criticize the bill, in English, too, to ensure that people knew where he stood on the measure.
The new Kagawa law goes into effect on Today.
A parent who did NOT grow up wisely found a scapegoat for not being able to educate their children wisely.—-
Japan’s Kagawa Prefecture Passes Law Striving to Limit Gaming for Minors to 1 Hour Per Day https://t.co/Ojd6bGion3— Katsuhiro Harada (@Harada_TEKKEN) April 1, 2020
It’s unfortunate to see Japan jumping onto the bandwagon that so many other pro-censorship regions have done, and it doesn’t bode well for their gaming industry if people start buying less games in the region and studios start receiving less funding due to these measures.
It seems like gamers really are the most oppressed class these days.
(Thanks for the news tip Doug)
