I first heard about Wu Xing Sha (Invisible Killer) on an episode of Search Engine last summer, and finally found a copy to watch over the weekend.

Given that this is a state-produced film made behind the Great Firewall of China it contains, as you’d expect, generous helpings of anti-Internet propaganda. If we are to take what the film tells us as fact, then the following must be true:

The Internet is a repository of all kinds of information; Online gaming is an addiction that will destroy your relationships and ruin your life; Bloggers are nothing more than petty gossip-mongers and digital paparazzi.

That first point is bang-on — we’re off to a good start, but… from there things go a bit awry. Online addictions are a legitimate concern but I can think of at least a few offline habits that are equally dangerous. And bloggers? I’m obviously biased here, but again Search Engine comes to the rescue, with a special podcast devoted to the Internet in China proving this to be a flat-out lie.

With the Digital Economy Bill now a reality in the UK and the possibly copycat Digital Economy Strategy looming over Canada, Invisible Killer is worth watching if only to see the Internet through the eyes of people who are afraid of it.

Here’s where you can check it out: