Response to the Regulation of Video Games under the Youth Media Protection Act: A Public Health Perspective

Abstract

The Swiss Youth and Media Act, which is about to enter into force, is an attempt to provide a legislative framework for video game use. Among other inclusions, the law intends to make providers more accountable by taking measures to protect minors from harm that can be caused by improper use of video games. However, it is a challenge to create a legal framework that can adequately regulate the evolving features of video games. Legislators must find a suitable regulatory approach which takes into account the fact that there is an increasing convergence between video games and gambling, particularly with the introduction of loot boxes. Moreover, there is a need for regulation, including the prohibition of misleading designs, the introduction of additional protection for minors, and the assurance of transparency of transactions. Appropriate policy legislation and consumer-protection measures are needed to protect people using these types of products, particularly children and adolescents. Further work should focus on assessing game characteristics to refine regulatory models to promote safe gaming. Based on experiences from the field of psychoactive substances as well as that of gambling, it is now a matter of developing a matrix of harm with elaborated categories: a tool that makes it possible to evaluate the potential harms of certain game design in an evidence-based manner.

Consumer-Perceived Risks and Sustainable Development of China’s Online Gaming Market: Analysis Based on Social Media Comments

“…The same situation existed with time risk (PR4 = T8). It is worth mentioning that a study in 2022 [4] pointed out that the business model of online games that excessively entices users to top up may be potentially harmful to users, especially teenagers. The high frequency of "Excessive Temptation" in our research also confirms that this phenomenon is widespread in the operation of online games in China.…”

“…Of course, the Chinese government and society will welcome the continued growth of the digital economy. However, as mentioned in this article, a business model that merely indulges in enticing users to charge through various escalating ways, similar to gambling [4], faces a considerable challenge. Despite the vast population, China's online gaming industry maintains a bright future.…”

“…However, numerous studies have highlighted the adverse effects of this development, including impacts on public health such as mental disorders [1] and addiction [2]. Moreover, research has indicated that chronic engagement in online gaming can be associated with poor social skills, learning difficulties, aggression, neglect of family responsibilities, job dereliction, and gambling [3,4]. However, despite these findings, only some studies have specifically examined the potential psychological risks consumers perceive in online gaming [5,6].…”

Consumers’ Opinions towards Public Health Effects of Online Games: An Empirical Study Based on Social Media Comments in China

“…Different social public organizations form the online game consumption market [7,8]. For instance, consumer groups play game products, game enterprises provide goods, and government departments regulate the game industry [9][10][11][12]. Consequently, the online game products set off human health and socially affect a wide range of populations, which conforms to the connotation of public health: all the problems related to human health can be understood as public health problems [13].…”

“…Therefore, a large number of papers investigating the impact of online games have focused on people's health by studying the potential harmful effects, involving mental disorders [14][15][16][17] and addiction [3,[18][19][20][21], with physical injuries such as obesity, back and neck pain, orthopedic/joint muscle disorders, vision problems, hearing problems, and physical inactivity [22,23]. In addition, regarding social adaptability and ethical health aspects, some research shows that chronic engagement in online gaming is associated with poor social skills, learning difficulties, aggression, ignored family responsibilities, job dereliction, and gambling [5,12,[24][25][26][27][28]. Based on the existing state of research, these viewpoints highlight the possible public health problems that can result from online games.…”