Gaming service ordered to refund money spent by boy

An online gaming firm was recently ordered by a Beijing court to return most of the money a boy spent on its platform because of loopholes in its implementation of real-name registration.

The case was filed with the Beijing Internet Court after the child's parents discovered their son used his mother's identity to register for the platform in September to extend his playing time, and spent more than 130,000 yuan ($17,900) on virtual equipment in games over 30 days.

The parents asked for a refund of the top-up fees, as they believed that the behavior of their child, who was less than 10 years old, should be deemed invalid in accordance with civil laws, while the defendant refused to return the money, arguing that the real-name information was the mother's, an adult with civil liability.

The court found that the boy initially registered on the platform with his own name, but when he logged in again, he realized that user information could be edited, so he changed his identity to his mother's because it would allow him to play longer, according to Zhao Ming, a judge responsible for the case.

"In other words, the gaming platform had defects in its user information authentication, providing an opportunity for minor players to evade supervision in cyberspace," she said. "It failed to strictly carry out our country's requirement that users register with real identities."

Although the parents were also negligent in monitoring their child's online behavior, she ruled that the platform should bear the main responsibility, ordering it to refund 114,000 yuan to the family and improve its system of real-name authentication as soon as possible.

In addition, she suggested the platform retain the information of underage users after their registration, or lock their gaming devices, such as smartphones or iPads, so that their identities can be verified when they play again.

Under Chinese laws and regulations, gaming companies should adopt real-name registration with limited service hours for players under the age of 18 to prevent them from becoming addicted to the internet. For instance, a regulation issued by the National Press and Publication Administration in 2021 requires online gaming platforms to provide just one hour of service to minors — from 8 pm to 9 pm — on Fridays, weekends and holidays to stop children overindulging and to protect their health.

Considering it is common in practice for minors to gain access to the internet or to spend more time online by stealing their guardians' mobile devices, or purchasing or renting adult internet accounts, Zhao encouraged gaming service providers to optimize their measures or upgrade their technologies to ensure real-name registration can be truly implemented.

She also urged guardians to take good care of their online accounts and payment passwords to avoid financial losses, and provide better guidance so their children can surf the internet in a healthy manner.