China shuts cybercafes as threat to youth

ChuckB writes “The Register reports that the PRC government has shut down 8,600 cybarcafes:

This latest crackdown on unlicensed Internet cafes began in February after authorities warned that cybercafes can affect the ‘mental health of teenagers’ while spreading ‘unhealthy online information’.
…
As if to prove a point, Xinhuanet cites the tragic case of two youths who were crushed to death by a train when they fell asleep on a railway track after spending 48 hours in a cybercafe.

Following that kind of reasoning, the PRC also ought to ban finals week and tight software delivery deadlines.”

May 11, 2004 by Internet

You may also like...

3 Responses

  1. Fang-Face says:
    May 11, 2004 at 9:56 pm

    That’s a good one

    Xinhuanet cites the tragic case of two youths who were crushed to death by a train when they fell asleep on a railway track after spending 48 hours in a cybercafe.

    Any excuse will do for a tyrant. –Aesop

  2. mdoneil says:
    May 11, 2004 at 10:54 pm

    When will they imprison librarians?
    If China imprisons librarians, even private librarians and other free thinkers, will the ALA have their next mid-winter in Beijing?

  3. ChuckB says:
    May 13, 2004 at 3:17 am

    Yet more on cybercafes
    Here’s a followup of sorts on the cybercafe story:

    Staff at a Chinese Internet cafe have resigned after they were beaten up last week by a gang of 16 teenagers barred from entering the cybercafe. The gang of youths beat one worker with bins and fire extinguishers before trashing the Internet café. Earlier they threatened to beat up anyone who “dared to check identity cards” after being refused entry to the cybercafe.

    But wait–there’s more:

    In a separate incident, two cybercafe workers in Shanghai were killed over an argument about the use of computers. According to AP, around ten men chased the two workers before stabbing them to death.

    <irony>So maybe the PRC officials had a point about cybercafes affecting the mental health of the PRC’s youth after all.</irony>

LISNews Archives