It is recommended that children only play games for 60 minutes a day

The Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is collecting opinions on amending Decree 147/2024 on Internet use management.

According to current regulations, people under 18 years old can play a maximum of 60 minutes per game and no more than 180 minutes per day for all games. The new draft regulations shorten this time to 60 minutes per day, for players who are children under 16 years old.

“The new regulations do not count cumulatively like before, that is, it does not count playing one game or many games, children can only play for 60 minutes,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen, Deputy Director of Radio, Television and Electronic Information, at the consultation conference on the afternoon of July 23.

The management agency also proposed adding regulations on warning about the impact of games on health and classifying games by age. Decree 147 requires businesses to display the warning “playing more than 180 minutes a day will adversely affect health”, but does not specify the duration and frequency of displaying the warning.

According to the Deputy Director of the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information, the old regulations were not strict, causing some publishers to only display notices for a very short time, making it difficult for players to read or pay attention.

To fix this, the agency proposed that G1 video games must display warnings about the game’s harmful effects on health every 30 minutes, for at least 10 seconds each time. With G2 video games, the minimum warning display time is 15 seconds. The draft also adds criteria for classifying games by age.

The new regulations also specify a number of policies to develop the Vietnamese gaming industry. Games produced by domestic enterprises with educational content and promotion of Vietnamese culture and history will enjoy incentive mechanisms. Specifically, games that meet the criteria will be released for testing before being officially licensed and enjoy personal income tax and corporate income tax exemption and reduction policies.

Commenting on the draft, VNG Games representative said that the new regulations have created many conditions for the gaming industry in general. However, the business proposed to adjust some regulations.

Regarding warnings about the impact of games on health, VNG Games proposes to apply the same recommended display time, regardless of game genres. Businesses also proposed that management agencies shorten the recommended display time to 5-7 seconds instead of 10-15 seconds as proposed.

Regarding the regulation limiting children’s playing time, according to VNG Games representative, when the maximum playing time is reduced to 60 minutes, the warning content also needs to be adjusted to be consistent.

According to the drafting agency, the Decree amending and supplementing Decree 147/2024 aims to create a favorable legal environment to develop the cultural industry, with a focus on promoting the video game industry in Vietnam in a professional and healthy direction.