New-style Internet cafés have become increasingly popular in Hong Kong in recent years, offering private rooms, sofa beds, shower facilities and washing machines, with some mainland tourists also opting to stay overnight at such venues during the May Day Golden Week. Currently, people of any age may freely enter Internet cafés. Regarding regulatory arrangements, a paper from the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau has put forward two new options: directly bringing Internet cafés under the licensing regime of the Amusement Game Centres Ordinance, with age restrictions and a ban on persons wearing school uniforms; or establishing a system similar to the current framework regulating e-sports venues, allowing the Government to impose regulation through approval processes and appropriate licensing conditions—such as prohibiting accommodation services—to safeguard user safety.
The Government noted that it introduced the Code of Practice for Internet Computer Services Centre Operators back in 2003, but as today's Internet cafés offer not only online gaming but also ancillary facilities, regulation should keep pace with the times to further strengthen safety oversight of such premises.
The two proposals differ primarily on whether age restrictions would be imposed. The first option is to bring Internet cafés directly under the licensing regime of the Amusement Game Centres Ordinance, meaning the regulatory framework of the existing ordinance would be applied to impose statutory licensing control, including a condition that persons in school uniform may not enter and that each game centre may operate only as either an "adult centre" (allowing entry only to those aged 16 and above) or a "children's centre" (allowing entry only to those under 16). The Government believes that imposing age restrictions would help prevent young people from becoming addicted to online gaming at an early age.
The second option is to adopt a system modelled on that for e-sports venues, allowing Internet cafés meeting stringent conditions to apply individually for exemption from amusement game centre licensing, subject to vetting and site inspections by the relevant policy bureaux and/or departments. The Bureau proposes that Internet cafés be required to comply with building, fire safety, and ventilation requirements, describing this mechanism as a balanced approach that would allow the Government to regulate through approvals and the imposition of appropriate conditions—such as prohibiting the provision of accommodation services—while avoiding the licensing conditions associated with traditional amusement game centres, such as age restrictions that may constrain the business model. This approach could more readily balance the trade's needs with safety requirements for the premises.
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