“Preventing Media Overuse” LG Uplus Conducts Child Media Safety Campaign

LG Uplus announced on the 13th that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the 'Infant and Toddler Media Safety Campaign' with the Korea Communications Agency and the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education. (From left) Hwang Hyun-sik, President of LG Uplus; Park Sang-hee, Director of the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education; and Cho Han-gyu, Chairman of the Korea Communications Agency, who attended the signing ceremony.

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] LG Uplus is launching a campaign to prevent children's media overexposure.

On the 13th, LG Uplus announced that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for "Healthy and Safe Media Use for Children" with the Korea Communications Commission and the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education. The signing ceremony was attended by Hwang Hyun-sik, CEO of LG Uplus, Jo Han-gyu, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, and Park Sang-hee, Director of the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education.

This MOU was initiated to promote healthy media usage methods and support children's healthy growth in order to prevent the increasing problem of children's media overexposure and dependence. According to the 2019 "Smartphone Overdependence Survey" by the Ministry of Science and ICT, 22.9% of Korean infants and children were classified as high-risk groups for smartphone overdependence. Especially after COVID-19, as media exposure among infants and children increased, the age of media overdependence has been gradually decreasing.

LG Uplus has been making efforts to prevent children's media overexposure. In fact, LG Uplus introduced features such as limiting the number and duration of content viewing, a playback lock function for "YouTube Kids," and blue light blocking for eye protection on its media platform exclusively for infants and toddlers, "U+ Kids Country."

Through this MOU, the three parties including LG Uplus plan to raise awareness of children's rights to be safely protected from media and jointly carry out campaigns for healthy media distribution. Specifically, LG Uplus will produce media safety campaign videos and expose them through its IPTV service, U+tv. The campaign videos will be shown mainly on content frequently viewed by children to help children and guardians enjoy media healthily. Additionally, "Media Safety Education" will be provided, allowing parents and children to meet experts directly to enhance their understanding of proper media use. The education will be conducted live at nationwide directly managed stores equipped with open studios.

Hwang Hyun-sik, CEO of LG Uplus, said, "We decided to participate in the campaign to promote healthy media distribution for children and prevent overexposure," adding, "LG Uplus will continue to strive to cultivate healthy media usage habits among children."