Tan Yifan

    Cicitan2011@gmail.com

    ONLINE video clips showing people being beaten are not rare for Chinese netizens — if you enter “beat others” on Chinese search engine Baidu.com, you will find over 4.6 million relevant records or snapshots. Usually, such clips receive backlash from viewers and the perpetrators are harshly criticized. However, a recent video of a man brutally beating a woman shows a dramatic turning point in online opinions.

    On May 3, the first video clip of a man in Chengdu dragging a woman out of her car and kicking her repeatedly caused a stir on Chinese social media such as Sina Weibo. Many viewers were enraged by the man’s violent behavior. But a few hours later, when a second clip filmed by the man’s dashboard-mounted camera was posted on Sina Weibo, the online indignation turned to the female driver. Over 10,000 Weibo users left messages under the second video clip, with many praising the attacker and saying the victim deserved what she got. The three-minute footage showed the female driver suddenly crossing two lanes in front of the male driver’s car twice, and the two exchanging angry remarks before both vehicles came to a stop. As more netizens joined the discussion, some angry netizens started so-called “flesh-hunting” (or “doxing” in the West), exposing the woman’s personal information, including the violation records of her car, her father’s occupation and even her hotel check-in records. While criticizing the irresponsible female driver, netizens seemed to be happy to share her private information, and some even speculated on her menstruation dates based on her hotel check-in records.

    But will the verbal abuse and “flesh-hunting” actually help correct drivers’ wrongdoings?

    The incident reminds me of the days when a society was operated by the rule of man. The only way for the masses to uphold justice was with counter-violence. Those who left dirty words toward the woman and praised the “braveness” of the man don’t think the two drivers should be punished according to the law. They believe it would be better just to punch bad drivers than fine them and apply penalty points according to the law. They seem to think that as long as one driver changed lanes illegally, then it is OK to beat the person up and leak private information.

    Even if revealing her past violation records prove her a recidivist, what is the relevance of her hotel records and menstruation? Even the rights of prisoners are more respected than what we have seen in this case. Why wasn’t her privacy protected?

    More importantly, the attacker deliberately hurt a fellow citizen and also broke the law. The fact that she illegally changed lanes, which didn’t result in an accident or cause any injuries, is a lame excuse to protect her attacker. He is not a hero and was doomed to be punished when he stretched out his leg to kick a woman.

    I was surprised by the online comments that support his behavior and was shocked to see how some media outlets have slanted their reporting by only focusing on the female driver’s unruly driving and her superciliousness and not on the man’s extreme and violent retaliation.

    This is not the first time netizens have abused their rights online and launched an excessive attack on those who have committed wrongdoings. The praise and support online somehow excite them and they take it for granted. Over time, such rhetoric will only mislead youngsters who don’t have mature values and send the message that once a person’s moral defects are exposed, that person deserves to be seriously punished both verbally and physically. As a consequence, there will be millions of people who are ready to destroy others’ privacy.

    (The author is a Shenzhen Daily editor.)