A Stitch in Haste

It's the same old story:

1. Boy meets Internet.
2. Boy loses Internet faith in authoritarian propaganda.
3. Dictators label boy an addict and a criminal.

Chinese teenagers are getting addicted to the Internet and taking to crime at a younger age than in any other country, state media reported on Wednesday.

Of China's 18.3 million teen Internet users, more than 2 million were addicts, with "good kids who impress their parents and teachers" the most vulnerable to the affliction, the China Daily said, citing a study by the Communist Youth League.
...
Amid growing concern that more and more young people are becoming hooked, China has issued a raft of regulations aimed at curbing excessive game-playing at Internet cafes and heavily fining owners that admit minors.

The express lane to serfdom is paved with claims that liberty must be curbed "for the children." The medieval Catholic Church understood it, the prohibitionists of the past understood it, the drug warriors of today understand it, the anti-gay bigots have perfected it into an art form.

So of course the pre-eminent enemies of freedom in the world today, China's Communists, understand it too. No surprise there.