Starting on March 1st, if you are a teenager, the government will ban you from going to internet cafes, karaoke bars and discos. Not here and not our government, the one in China. You can breathe again guys. Associated Press has reported that China will enforce the ban in their efforts to stop the incidents of “audio and video products and electronic games [which] harm national security and incite hatred toward other nationalities.” A spokesperson for the Chinese government stated to Associated Press that, “With the development of the Internet, there has been some harmful and illegal content. The Chinese Government has adopted some management measures so as to limit the immoral and harmful content, especially for young people.” The measures are not totally without merit, in the eyes of China™s government. A recent survey showed that at least 13 percent of the youth in China are full fledged addicts of online gaming. Incidents of gamer deaths, related to marathon gaming sessions, have become more common. Whether the drastic move by the Chinese government proves effective or not, remains to be seen. One thing is apparent; the Internet genie has escaped from the bottle, and China is desperately trying to get it back inside before it is too late. It™s too late.
