The ‘midnight patrol’ in China is cracking down on young people

Tencent, a Chinese gaming behemoth, has been deploying facial detection technology to prevent youngsters from playing between the hours of 22:00 and 08:00.

According to the company, the “midnight-patrol” technology would prevent “tricks” from avoiding the government curfew, which was implemented in 2019 with a cap on how much young gamers would invest in-game transactions.

Gamers must join with their official IDs, which are linked to a national database, in order to avoid the restrictions.

However, it has been reported that minors often use adults’ IDs regardless of their own.

Anyone who has been playing for a specific amount of time will now be subjected to a facial scan to verify their age.

Minors in China are subject to a video gaming curfew. Tencent began testing the system in 2018, and it now covers over 60 titles from the world’s largest gaming publisher.

It disclosed the extension on China’s QQ messaging program, dubbed “zero-hours cruising” by China’s Sixth Tone news site, which translates to “midnight patrol.

Gaming addiction was officially an increasingly recognized Organization in 2018.

The NHS then developed treatment options for what is considered an uncommon condition that affects only a small percentage of dedicated gamers the subsequent year.

Source: BBC News