Authorities have been ordered to take extreme measures in addressing the effects of online gaming on young people.
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| The MIC has decided to stop the licensing of online games. (Illustrative photo). |
The Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) ordered authorities and agencies to stop the licensing of online games and ban online game advertisements from now on. Hanoi plans to have online gaming centres within 200 metres from schools closed by August 30.
“We cannot let groups of students play games through the day and night near schools and universities,” said Pham Quoc Ban, Director of Hanoi’s Department of Information and Communication (DIC) in a meeting held on July 28 with the city’s authorities and agencies on the management, provision and use of internet services across Hanoi.
August will see the decisions being implemented. Internet shops have been asked to voluntarily close by 11 pm and a team of inspectors has been organised to be in charge of checking business licenses of internet shops in Hanoi beginning August 16.
Hanoi’s DIC has also ordered internet service providers to cut off access to shops providing gaming after 11 pm (a list to be provided by inspectors). Ban said that both service providers and gaming shops will be required to install software that monitors the access hours of online games, as well as filtering games that are not licensed.
According to statistics from authorities, a total of 72 online games are circulating in Vietnam with two third of this number being violent games.
Luu Vu Hai, Director of the Electronic Information and Broadcasting Department of the MIC said that a new regulation for online gaming management will be submitted to the government for approval in August.
