Mobile restriction in, er, restricted China

Look at the world map, and you’ll find quite a few countries with governments that are control freaks, you know, Big Brotherly. China, which sort of leads the pack, is one of the Biggest Brothers. (To know about North Korea, one has to take a peek in, which is tough.) After curbing citizens’ access to several internet platforms that people in other countries take for granted, the nanny state HQed in Beijing is apparently proposing new measures to curb the amount of time kids can spend on their phones. This is the sort of thing real parents do with their children. But the mai-baap state? It’s China, so, the plan is apparently to cultivate ‘good morality’ and ‘socialist values’ among minors – the majors already having made the grade.

So, all mobile devices, apps and app stores will now supposedly have a built-in ‘minor mode’ that would restrict daily screen time to a maximum of two hours a day. So, children under 8 could use their phones for only 40 minutes daily, while those between 8 and 16 will get an hour. Teenagers over 16 and under 18 would be allowed two hours. In keeping perhaps with China’s two-child policy that ran from 2016 to 2021? The funny thing is that we are talking here about age-specific internet restriction in an internet-restricted state. But, then, kids can always use their parents’ phones under their bedsheets at night.