Apps pulled for content inappropriate for kids

Children's digital device manufacturer Little Genius has pulled some of its apps from its app store after media reports that they contained inappropriate content for children.

After receiving complaints from parents, China Consumer Journal reported that children who use Little Genius tablets are able to download games that contain violence and criminal activities.

The games are all in English, do not limit the amount of time children are able to spend playing them and do not require any registration, the report said.

When players fail in the games they can continue playing after watching advertisements, which also contain violent content, it said.

According to a guideline issued by the National Press and Publication Administration last year, those under the age of 18 can only play games online for one hour at a time and only on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

Guangdong Little Genius Technology said in a statement that apps that contain inappropriate content will be banned from its app stores.

The company said it has conducted a thorough check on all of its products and would strengthen the management of the apps on its app store to rule out any pornographic, violent or advertising content. It added that it would give parents more control over the apps.

With internet-savvy children currently on their summer breaks, government authorities and parents are paying more attention to safeguard them from dangerous content.

The number of internet users in China under the age of 18 topped 183 million by 2020, making the penetration rate of the internet nearly 95 percent among Chinese kids, according to a report issued by the Chinese Communist Youth League Central Committee and the China Internet Network Information Center.

The Cyberspace Administration of China said it has launched a special campaign to strengthen the management of online spaces for children during the summer break, especially on preventing them from spending too much time on the internet.

The campaign focuses on encouraging children to spend less time online and has required, since 2019, that online platforms have a "teenage mode", allowing parents to restrict the access and time their teens spend online.

For example, in the short video app Douyin's teenage mode, those under the age of 18 cannot use the app from 10 pm to 6 am, and children need to have their parents re-unlock their access every 40 minutes.

However, experts said teenage mode still needs much improvement, as children are able to bypass security steps.

Teenage mode on some apps can simply be erased if users uninstall and reinstall the app, while others can pretend to be adults by using their parents' identity information, they said.