China's education ministry bans harmful apps on campus

BEIJING -- The Ministry of Education has asked education authorities at all levels as well as middle and primary schools to establish daily supervision to ensure that mobile device apps used by the schools meet the standards set by the ministry.

Some apps contain pornography, violence, online games, commercial advertisements as well as those that violate education rules, the ministry told Xinhua. Negative content can impact the physical and psychological health and education of students.

In a notice recently issued by the ministry's general office, content, links, functions and information security of apps should be strictly reviewed and filed to higher education authorities for approval.

Schools should avoid using apps to increase the course load for students and educational apps used on campus are not allowed to charge students. Information should be protected and privacy leaks should be prevented.

Apps that are not filed for record and approved by education authorities are forbidden to be used by schools, the notice said.

It also required regular checking of changes and updates of apps in order to deal with harmful information in a timely manner. Schools and teachers should not release grades and ranks of students through apps, it said.