‘Human Flesh Search Engine’ Targeted by Chinese Regime

A high-level Chinese regime official spoke out against the human flesh search engine last week, saying it was harmful, immoral, and illegal, and threatened netizens who launch searches.

The human flesh search engine, as it is called in China, is a crowd-sourced Internet investigation native to China. Netizens share information about a targeted individual and quickly build up a profile of who that person is and what he or she has done.

This activity is sometimes characterized as unrestrained, vigilante cyber justice.

In some cases, it is, and the results have been unfortunate. But in other cases, when official corruption prevents or short circuits genuine justice, the exposure of the crime and the criminal on the Internet seems the only recourse to justice available to Chinese netizens.

Yang Hengjun, a Chinese analyst and blogger, explained in an article in Red Flag Manuscript, a journal published by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee: It is true that the human flesh search engine is only seen in China. However, this is because there is no supervision over political power in China.

Our civilians dont have any standard way to seek justice, which is available in Western countries. There you have the judicial system, freedom of speech, and freedom of demonstration/protest. In China we dont have these rights so the only choice is to expose bad officials online.

The official CCP perspective is different.

Using the recent suicide of a Guangdong high school girl who was accused of theft and whose personal information was made public by crusading netizens, CCP official Liu Zhengrong called the human flesh search engine lawless, a network of violence.

In an interview with state media, he connected protecting the legitimate interests of Chinese citizens with safeguarding public security, emphasizing the rights of Chinese individuals.

Liu, who is deputy chief of the State Council Information Offices Internet Affairs Bureau, said that those launching searches that lead to harm will be prosecuted according to law.

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‘Human Flesh Search Engine’ Targeted by Chinese Regime