Waking up to the dangers of pick-up artists

Editor's Note: A WeChat account, Langji Qinggan, that promised to make pick-up artists out of men, has been shut down after readers complained to WeChat authorities that it was teaching notorious, emotional manipulation tricks that propagate unhealthy views about love, and instigating crimes, which should be seriously dealt with to safeguard citizens, especially women's rights and interests. China Daily writer Wang Yiqing comments:

The infamous skills of a pick-up artist that originated in the United States were unknown to the public until very recently. A pick-up artist refers to a man who has acquired the skill of communicating with women, with the intention of making their acquaintance and appearing attractive to them, so as to develop an intimate relationship. But in reality it is a way of teaching men how to brainwash and emotionally manipulate women with the intention of having sex with them. Some men even use the trick to defraud women of their money.

Some training organizations promise to help males "become attractive" to the opposite sex, but what they actually do is to teach them tricks to play with women's emotions, seriously hurt their feelings, endanger their physical and psychological health and even cause some tragedies. Such organizations also target men, particularly those who feel they are not good at communicating with women and want to improve their personal attractiveness and find true love. But after paying a huge amount to receive the training, what they actually learn are tricks that end up destroying a potentially healthy relationship.

The pick-up artists regard women as a target of their love interest and hurt them for their selfish desires. This is against social morals, and spreads very unhealthy views about love. Some pick-up artists training organizations are even suspected of instigating crime. But despite the harm it causes to individuals and society, there are no specific laws to regulate such behavior and it is also difficult for those who have been affected to obtain any evidence against their tormentors to be able to safeguard their rights and interests.

But as more and more female victims of pick-up artists open up about their ordeal on social media, the public and judicial organizations, too, are waking up to the dangers pick-up artists pose.

On May 9, Jiangsu internet police announced it was detaining a violator, surnamed Xu, for five days for training a course which had pornographic content and involved fraud. The police not only shut down his website and WeChat group, but also fined him 50,000 yuan ($7,149.94).

As such training challenges social morals and undermines citizens, particularly women's legal rights and interests, society as a whole should come together to curb the spread of pick-up artists and restore the healthy social environment.