Fear Growing Over Chinese Abuse of `Online Manhunts`

A Tibetan living in the U.S. state of Utah received a deluge of threatening letters last month.

The letters were delivered to his address because his entire personal data was leaked on the Internet after he was falsely identified as the person who impeded the Olympic torch relay in Paris on April 7. A Chinese Web user posted photos of the relay and encouraged other online users to find him.

In China’s eastern coastal city of Qingdao, a high school girl found her personal information displayed online. She received threats after failing to pay on time for perfume she ordered from an online shopping mall.

The mall’s owner had posted, “An Internet user didn’t pay for the perfume she ordered,” on the popular Chinese online bulletin www.tianya.cn. The girl was pressed several times to pay 2,160 yuan (about 309 U.S. dollars) for the perfume.

Her name, photo and school grades were among her personal data leaked on the Web. An Internet user in the same city wrote a threatening post that said, “I live nearby. Offer an apology and pay for what you bought immediately, or I’ll take care of you.”

A Chinese newspaper that covered the story said, “Some say Internet users are more efficient than police since the high school girl paid only three or four days after the shopping mall owner’s message was posted.”

In December last year, a female Internet user wrote about her late sister who had killed herself because of her husband’s infidelity. As a result, Internet users posted photos and personal information of the man and the woman with whom he had an affair.

Chinese Internet users tried to justify their method of getting the girl to pay for the perfume. One said, “She corrupted the order of commercial transactions and attempted to deceive a shopping mall owner.”

There has been no debate, however, on who suffered more damage: the shopping mall that received a delayed payment or the girl whose personal information was leaked all over the Web.

On the unfaithful husband, Chinese media said the incident was the “result of the rightful indignation of Internet users.” Others, however, warned of the risk of a “people’s court” in which normal due process is ignored and a verdict comes from a unilateral argument.

Even if the accused are belatedly proven innocent, as in the case of the Tibetan in Utah, undoing the damage done is difficult.

The so-called online manhunt by Chinese Web users has become widely known to the world in the wake of their efforts to “punish those who obstruct the Olympic torch relay.” Critics warn that online people searches can be abused as a convenient tool for “narrow nationalism.”

The Internet, however, has had a positive influence on China, a country that has yet to see vibrant exchanges of information.

Several examples attest to the power of Internet users in China. A photo of a wild tiger released by forestry authorities of Shanxi Province was proven to be a fake in October. A beauty salon owner in Zhengzhou was arrested in March after charging a 14-year-old girl 120,000 yuan (about 17,160 U.S. dollars) for a haircut.

But fear is growing in China that online manhunts will beget new problems.

An official at the Chinese Academy of Social Science said, “As the power of online people searches is growing, the question is how to establish a new order (in cyberspace).”

bonhong@donga.com