China imprisons several men for confining children in internet de-addiction centres

Internet addiction is a real issue. However intense it may be, it cannot be justified toputchildren in solitary confinement. That’s what happened in China.

A group of men who ran a de-addiction centre for kids who can’t get off their screens in China have been sentenced to prison time. According to court documents, men with surnames Wu, Reg, Zhang, and Qu were imprisoned for illegally confining 12 people in the Yuzhang Academy in Jiangxi province for over ten days. Out of these, 11 were minors.

Similar facilities everywhere

The facility is one of many such treatment centres to spur up in China over the last years with newly found concerns for people who spend a lot of time browsing content online.

China does not go easy on its internet users, where people are subjected to heavy censorship and the government exercising full control over the internet. This happens in a country with one of the world’s largest internet user bases.

In 2008, China recognised internet addiction as a real disorder, which may have set the stage for child abuses across the country in such treatment centres.

Cruel intentions?

A 19-year-old girl was killed in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou after handles at one of these de-addiction centres beat her black and blue.Many reports also suggest that such centres use electric therapies to “treat” children.

Wu, the major perpetrator was put in prison for three years. Ten and Zhang received two years, seven months and one year, ten months prison time respectively. Qu only recently 11 months of prison time.

State-run Global Times claimed that kids in the academy were put in dark dingy rooms with just a blanket and a toilet pot.

The government in China is not too far behind. In November 2019, an internet curfew was announced for people aged below 18. As part of this, they can play 90 minutes worth of video on weekdays, and three hours worth of clips on weekends. Additionally, minors in the country cannot play video games between 10 PM and 8 AM.

Currently, 850 million people in the country have access to the internet. Out of these, 200 million are aged between 15 and 35.