Chinese Official Blames Internet For Youth Crime

from the playing-the-blame-game dept

Mon, Apr 23rd 2007 6:28am — Mike Masnick

A reader alerted us to this bizarre story that a Chinese official is blaming youth crime on the internet. It seems like a clear case of confusing correlation with causation: "In recent years from the cases we have discovered, the proportion of young people guilty of cheating, rape or robbery who are given to using the Internet or have been corrupted by online filth, is very high. Our preliminary figures for arrested youth criminals is that almost 80 percent of them have been seduced by the Internet." You know, in recent years, I've noticed that the proportion of young people guilty of cheating, rape or robbery who are given to breathing is very high. My preliminary figures suggests that 100% of them have been seduced by oxygen. Something must be done!

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13 Comments

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Bobshaker, 23 Apr 2007 @ 6:42am

Really Mike...you're use of sarcasm is impeccable. Keep it up. I needed that laugh to start my day with. I wonder if the Chinese would start banning internet outright. They would be the best candidates for such an act and it would be funny as hell to see that which would ensue.
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- MadJo (profile), 23 Apr 2007 @ 6:50am
  
  Re:
  Bobshaker, why did you have to scream "first" first? That's as lame as grabbing a newspaper in a newsstand while screaming "first". You do know that for a moment you looked like a total jacka**? (before Mike deleted your first post)
  
  On topic, I doubt many current governments really understand the Internet, and still hope that it will go away.
  Meanwhile it makes an ideal scapegoat/vehicle for nonsensical laws for them.
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  - Mischa, 23 Apr 2007 @ 12:29pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Because it is amusing. There were several times I was tempted to do the same thing but so far I've managed to restrain myself. :-)
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    - MadJo (profile), 24 Apr 2007 @ 12:58am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      Amusing to whom? I think the word you were looking for is annoying and/or pointless.
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mkvf, 23 Apr 2007 @ 7:01am

Something must be done!
Well, thankfullty, the Chinese government is doing something - they enthusiastically release hundreds, if not thousands, of criminals from their addiction to breathing every year.
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Costi, 23 Apr 2007 @ 7:10am

so the chinese official banned wikipedia.org and technorati.com? totally a subterfuge.
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Overcast, 23 Apr 2007 @ 7:34am

Oh are all these crimes new in China? hmm, guess they never happened prior to the internet then...
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dorpus, 23 Apr 2007 @ 7:35am

Unless
Just because Mike wants it to fit poor reasoning does not mean it does. What if the young criminals acknowledge that the internet was the source of their inspiration, where they learned how to hotwire cars, etc.?
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- Chronno S. Trigger, 23 Apr 2007 @ 8:59am
  
  Re: Unless
  I can look up hot-wiring a car on Google but I could also ask a few hundred people I already know. The knowledge is out there, the Internet is just one source.
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Lynna, 23 Apr 2007 @ 9:02am

Jeez.
"Last November a Chinese court sentenced the founder of the country's largest pornography Web site to life imprisonment." - Holy crap. Overkill, don't you think?
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squik, 23 Apr 2007 @ 12:40pm

you missed the real story
Chinese officials are just as stupid as American politicians, who have also blamed the internet or video games or television or music for youth crimes.

The real story is that the Chinese government has the power to criminalize and censor information. They use lame arguments about causes of crime to control information flow. Notice the article talks about "a new campaign against Internet pornography", but also cracks down on "rumor-spreading", i.e. news.

Wow, that official really is stupid. Let's laugh at him while China uses his reasoning to commit more human rights violations.
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Charles Griswold, 23 Apr 2007 @ 1:45pm

Re: dorpus
Guys, don't feed the troll. It will only encourage him.
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GeneoA, 23 Apr 2007 @ 2:43pm

When Good Stats Go Bad
In the US, 99.2% of all people who died of cancer in 2006 had previously used a telephone. Of course, 100% of those same cancer victims also had names. What does it all mean when you tilt stats to tell the story you want them to tell...
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