[FALSE] Has Adobe Creative Cloud followed China’s anti-addiction regulations and set time limits for underage users?

Screenshot of the Facebook post.

The Claim and Our Verdict

• The claim: A Facebook post published on Sept. 3, 2021 claims that Adobe has followed the Chinese government’s rules to combat teenagers’ addiction to video games and limited people under the age of 18 to use Adobe Creative Cloud software.
• Fact-checking:
  • Keyword searches did not identify any official statements issued by Adobe about restricting users’ time to use Adobe Creative Cloud.
  • The screenshot was originally posted on Weibo on Aug. 31, 2021. The post translates as, “Adobe follows the anti-addiction regulations. P.S. the saying about anti-addiction is not true, while it is true that blue screen errors and system crashes will occur.” The original Weibo post, therefore, has clarified the rumour, and the content of the screenshot is fabricated.
• Our ruling: Therefore, we rate the claim as FALSE.

News Brief

A Facebook post published Sept. 3, 2021, claims that Adobe has to abide by the Chinese government’s anti-addiction regulations and limit the amount of time underage users can use Adobe Creative Cloud software to one hour during weekends and holidays. The post translates as, “Mainland China is crazy! Following the new anti-addiction measures, Adobe limits the time for teenagers to one hour during weekends and holidays. Teenagers will not be addicted to AI and PS and they can learn and play at the same time. They cannot be addicted to design.”

As of the issuance of this report, the post has been shared 452 times, and has 85 comments as well as 560 likes or reactions.

The National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA), China’s top watchdog for gaming and other forms of online media, issued new regulations to tackle gaming addiction among teenagers on Aug. 30, 2021. The new rules limit the gaming time for players aged under 18 to between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. only on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and statutory holidays.

Adobe Creative Cloud is a set of applications and services from Adobe Inc. that gives subscribers access to a collection of software used for graphic design, video editing, web development, photography, and other relevant applications and cloud services.

Fact-checking

HKBU FactCheck Service has conducted keyword searches on the official website and social media accounts (including WeChat and Weibo) of Adobe China and is not able to find any official announcements about the time restrictions for teenagers. The following screenshots show the search results.

Screenshot of search results on the official website of Adobe China.

Screenshots of search results on the WeChat account of Adobe China.

Screenshots of search results on the Weibo account of Adobe China.

Screenshot of the “News Room” page of Adobe China’s official website.

A further keyword search found the screenshot discussed in the claim was originally published in another Weibo post on Aug. 31, 2021, at 12:25. According to the post’s edit history, the author updated it at 19:39 on the same day. The original post said, “Adobe follows the anti-addiction regulations.” The post was later amended to add an additional remark, “Adobe follows the anti-addiction regulations. P.S. the saying about anti-addiction is not true, while it is true that blue screen errors and system crashes will occur.” The author of the original post has debunked the rumour. The screenshot discussed in the claim, therefore, is fabricated.

Screenshot of the original Weibo post.

Screenshot of edit history of the Weibo post.