Epic Fail: New China Internet Rules Arrests 16yr-old, But Later Releases Him Due to Online Furor

Authorities in China arrested a 16-year-old youth to strike a message and elicit fear to those who commit online rumour mongering. But the outcry of the public, manifested also through online furor, wilted the officials' convictions enough for them to release the youth they had alleged as troublemaker. Epic fail.

On Sept 17, a week after China announced that jail time now await those who post libelous comments online, officials arrested Yang Hui, a middle school student, for "disrupting social disorder" because he dared challenge on his microblog the authenticity of the details surrounding another man's death.

Read: New China Internet Rules: Jail Time Await Libelous Comments Retweeted/Reposted 500 Times & Above

The unidentified man who died on Sept 12 was said to have died due to suicide. However, Yang knew some of the victim's relatives and after talking with them, learned that the man's death had been fabricated.

On his Twitter-like microblog Sina Weibo, Yang, from the western province of Gansu, disclosed the man was beaten up and then tossed from an upper floor of the building to make his death appear like suicide. But Yang didn't stop there. He noted that the karaoke club where the man got beaten was owned by a local judicial official.

"You don't want the world to know what happened?" the young Yang brazenly wrote. "What are you afraid of? I am not afraid of you. I took pictures, arrest me. I dare you."

The police did just that, grabbing him while at school. Expectedly, they said his posts allegedly inspired more protests. Ironically, they added one of the reasons that he was also being nabbed was because he allegedly stole a motorbike when he was 15. They claimed he wasn't punished for it. Still, adding up the second allegation was a far cry from the intents of the country's cyber law.

"It's all right to crack down on rumours, but if such initiatives are expanded without limits or regard to principle, they become unconstitutional," Wang Shihua, one of the lawyers who volunteered to represent Yang, said on Monday. The youth's comments were for a fact not fabricated.

According to the new internet rules, online rumour mongers will be imprisoned for a maximum of three years. Yang would have been the first casualty of the new law had not authorities bendt down to public pressure. Of course, it wont just admit it.

"In light of Yang being a teenager, his active compliance with the investigation, his sincere regret for the crime and the circumstances of being a minor, local police withdrew the criminal case and handed down a lenient punishment," state news Xinhua said. Yang was released on Monday.

Video Source: Youtube/NTDTV

Chinese authorities are now debating the extent of how its new internet rules should be applied, and if it should extend to online juveniles.