Tencent's logo is displayed at the World Internet Conference (WIC), Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province, China, November 23rd 2020.NetEase declined comment. Tencent could not be reached immediately for comment.Tencent dropped around 10% in the morning, while NetEase was nearly 14% lower in Hong Kong. Tencent is the largest gaming company in the world, and has been responsible for popular games such as "Honor of Kings".In order to prevent children from falling prey to addiction or other harmful effects, further restrictions should be imposed on the industry.GUANGZHOU (China) Shares in Tencent and NetEase plummeted Tuesday after Chinese state media called online gaming "opium" compared to a drug and branded it as such.Economic Information Daily, a Chinese state-run newspaper that is affiliated to the official Xinhua newspaper, published the article. It stated that children are addicted to online gaming and that this could have a negative impact on their growth.According to the article, half of China's children will be nearsighted by 2020. Online games can also affect their education.This article does not represent a new sentiment. The Chinese government has long been concerned about the effects of video games on minors.Beijing banned new gaming approvals in 2018 because of concerns about the effects it was having on young people's eyesight. Online games in China require approvals by the regulators.China introduced rules in 2019 that prohibited children under 18 from playing online games between 10 pm and 8 am and limited the time they could play.This article called for greater control over how long children play games and a stricter review of game content to reduce "improper" information being given to minors."The next step should include stricter controls on the time that minors spend online gaming. According to CNBC's translation, it should be decreased by a large amount from the current level."Tencent and NetEase have taken measures to protect young gamers, including real-name registrations in order to allow them to play online games. Tencent added a facial recognition feature to its smartphones last month to confirm that the player is an adult.
