Tencent, a Chinese multinational technology conglomerate holding company, has been sued for allegedly portraying inappropriate content in its video game Honor of Kings. The game is massively successful and is known as Arena of Valor in the West. Tencent reported that as of November, Honor Kings had 100 million daily active players.
The lawsuit was filed by Beijing Teenagers Law Aid and Research Center, a public interest group, which claimed that the game contains contents unsuitable for children. The lawsuit was filed after the amended protection of minors law came into force.
The public interest group stated that some Honor of Kings’ characters wore low-cut clothes and meddled with historical figures, thereby showing a lack of respect for traditional culture.
In a social media post the public interest group said that “Game characters’ clothing is too revealing, while there is a lot of low-taste content that is inappropriate for teenagers on its website and forums. An in-game raffle also made young players more likely to play the game for longer.”
Beijing Teenagers Law Aid and Research Center said it filed the lawsuit in a Beijing court on Tuesday, to mark the implementation of amended protection of minors law. The public interest group showed disapprobation of the company’s action of lowering the recommended age limit from 18 to 12.
Tencent may be fined an amount of 1.5 billion dollars, as China plans to penalize the company amid an antitrust crackdown, according to reports. Tencent has also faced issues in some other places. The company lost publishing rights to PUBG Mobile Lite and PUBG Mobile Nordic Map in India last year.
Other lawsuits have also been filed against Tencent, one of which came from TikTok parent company – ByteDance. ByteDance accused Tencent of violating antitrust laws by preventing users from accessing Douyin content on the WeChat and QQ messaging apps.
Tencent, so far, has remained silent on the allegations made against it by the Beijing Teenagers Law Aid and Research Center.
