A Taiwanese website recently said that the Chinese government plans to draft a new protocol prohibiting all types of online gaming and chat groups in the country. The report states explicitly that the coverage of the gaming ban will be to exclusively disconnect all Chinese gamers from all foreign gamers outside the country. Is this true?
After Animal Crossing protest, China now allegedly plans to ban ALL online gaming
According to a Taiwanese website called Taiwan News, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will be planning to extend its censorship in all active online games available in the country. The site reveals that Chinese-based gamers will no longer be able to send messages or invites to any foreign countries, once this new rule is implemented.
Taiwan News said that "the communist regime is said to have noticed an authority vacuum in online multiplayer games, which enables people to socialize without monitoring freely. Local metropolises are scrambling to draft laws to expand the scope of online censorship in video games and even prohibit gamers from meeting and chatting with people on the other side of the Great Firewall."
It was also noted in the same report that the government will strictly monitor even one-player online games. Other apps that feature zombies, plagues, map editing, or roleplaying-- or any gaming apps that allow players to form groups-- are reportedly no longer allowed in China.
How Animal Crossing was used to protest against China
Nintendo Switch game called Animal Crossing: New Horizons became a hit around the world, including China, since it's first released on Mar. 20.
However, things changed immediately. China has now banned access for the country to play the said game after a 23-year-old activist named Joshua Wong used New Horizons to protest against the Chinese government. He decorated his island with messages saying, "Free Hong Kong, revolution now."
This is what we do in #AnimalCrossing... maybe it’s why these people are so anxious to go back to the game!! pic.twitter.com/vVeaGq54lv — Joshua Wong 黃之鋒 (@joshuawongcf) April 10, 2020
The Taiwan News claimed that the plan of a total ban in all online games might be a way for the Chinese government to hide information from their citizens or people outside the country.
"As the CCP's audacious global propaganda campaign to silence critics abroad and to defend its infallibility fails to work out, the new law is expected to block Chinese people from learning how the world is reacting to Beijing's handling of the outbreak and subsequent cover-ups," written by Taiwan News.
Online gaming curfew for minors
Interestingly, not all the new online gaming policies were listed down as biased to the Chinese government. Another thing they wanted to implement is a curfew to all minors playing the games.
"They include an online gaming curfew (10 p.m. to 8 a.m.) for gamers aged under 18 and a maximum amount of money they are allowed to spend on games to combat internet addiction," said on the report.
As of now, nothing is yet sure regarding this issue.
