Can you expand on what you mean by "everyone is an internet addict"? I mean in the examples you gave, you mention the children skipped school - which is a problem. The article and some other commenters mention a nighttime gaming ban - which is a reaction to kids staying up at night to play video games. Clearly there IS a problem, and the Chinese government has this way of solving it.

In the west there's similar solutions. For game time, parents can use parental controls, time limits and bedtimes to set up phones and the like to not work at night. The government(s) are more concerned about gambling mechanics in games.

It's a problem of phrasing.

Back then, for an average person, there wasn't much to do on the Internet, except online games and chatting with friends, both of which are considered a waste of time. As a result, Internet itself was demonized, and Internet addiction was considered a problem, even a mental disorder.

Nowadays, China has a booming tech sector. Everyone is using the Internet all the time to browse TikTok videos, stream TV shows, order food delivery and shop deals. And people stopped talking about Internet addiction, because suddenly they realize they themselves fit the clinical definition, which was to be online for more than a few hours a day.

Well, it's a problem of phrasing, but the other issue is the CCP wants any reason to put facial recognition in people's homes. Since taking a sledgehammer to a social issue like children's screen-time will cause no appreciable backlash among anyone who can't be sent to a slave camp, they can kill two birds with one stone by harnessing gaming addiction to a total panopticon. You can already go to prison there for using your phone to access Playboy magazine or the NYT, so, why not. It's their casino, and if you don't like it, see how you like your kneecaps.