After WHO (world health organization) which earlier declared video game addiction as a mental illness and also countries like Japan and South Korea which has already imposed such bans on the internet for few hours on teens. Now, the Malaysian government is also considering an internet ban from 12 Am to 6 Am a day for the teenagers under 17 years of age. Deputy health minister Dr. Lee Boon Cye of Malaysia referring to the Studies on Health and Morbidity conducted in the year 2017 told the parliament that around 34.9% of the teenagers in Malaysia showed the symptoms of Internet addiction. He also added that certain gaming providers are also taking the responsibility regarding this issue by restricting the teenagers under 17 years of age not allowing to play the game for two to three hours a day. These moves are seen as a welcoming move to curb the internet and video game addiction among the teenagers.
The health minister referring to another study by Malaysian communication and multimedia commission(MCMC), revealed that around 80 percent of 24 million Malaysians use the internet for social media purpose and spends around 4 hours a day online which has risen the concerns of the government on the issue of mental and physical health of the citizens and especially the teenagers.
The consideration on restricting internet usage among the teenagers comes after the question raised in parliament by Lukanisman Awang Sauni on whether social media and video gaming addiction can be categorized as mental problems.
Deputy health minister concluded by saying that social media and video gaming addiction can have a negative impact on teenagers.
Final Thoughts
To control video game and social media addiction this kind of steps are taking an upward trend among many countries. With the age of internet and video games, teenagers are also getting addicted to social media and video games so much so that WHO had to address this addiction in its International Classification of diseases (11th series) hence, governments are also studying this kind of strict measures to control the increasing addiction of social media and video games among teenagers. Japan declared ban on internet usage after 9 pm for teenagers in the year 2014 and South Korea passed an act called Shutdown law or Cinderella law which bans teenagers from playing video games between 12 am and 6 am in the year 2011.
