Links » Crème » Rule of Law: China’s Online Mob Does It Again

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Rule of Law: China’s Online Mob Does It Again Posted: 21 Oct 2012 09:48 AM PDT For a couple of years now, I've been writing about the power of China's online voices (aka netizens, aka weibots) in their struggle for truth, justice and all kinds of other good stuff. Frankly, it worries me. And now they've gone and started a riot in Sichuan for no reason, and people might have been hurt. But before we get to the riot . . . We've seen a series of incidents, many of which involve "evil" local cops and officials, pitted against innocent folks (e.g., the Deng Yujiao case) who have been the victim of  crime or illegal land confiscation, or unjustly accused of something they didn't do. Online chatter ensues, the local officials change their tune, and we get the "right" result. Hurrah! I've been playing the part of the buzzkill, warning that although we may like the outcome of these cases, the power of online communities to influence criminal or administrative proceedings is a very scary precedent to set. We may complain that the judiciary in China is not as independent as we would like, but isn't one that lurks on weibo to see which way the mob wind is blowing ultimately much worse? This is not just an academic argument, and sometimes these cases are not obviously about redressing an injustice. Take the case of Wu Ying, who was given a death sentence for economic crimes earlier this year. After a public outcry, which seems to have been based on nothing more than the fact that Wu is female, the case was re-tried, and the death sentence was suspended (functionally equivalent to life in prison). But hey, at least here the public pressure resulted in leniency. Not so last year when Li Changkui, a convicted rapist and murderer, was given a suspended death sentence. After a hue and cry ensued, the Yunnan High Court took another crack at it and gave him a straight death sentence. Mobs calling for the death penalty in individual cases. Yikes. Which brings us back to online rumors and what happened in Luzhou, Sichuan the other day. Rumors can be good things, like when folks share information about natural disasters, health dangers, or environmental threats. In this case, a guy in Luzhou was yelled at by some cops, who wanted him to move his truck. They shouted at each other for a while, then the driver fell ill for some reason (heart attack?); at some point he took medication but ended up dying. The rumor that immediately circulated was that the cops had beaten him to death, which fomented a riot involving several thousand people. Fires were set, cars were turned over, tear gas was used, arrests were made — you know the drill. It's not clear how severe the injuries were. Anthony Tao at Beijing Cream noted the following: The exact details remain unknown, and it's unlikely that we'll ever find out. At this point, hearsay piled upon hearsay is all we'll get, and it'll elucidate nothing. But indications are that some very vocal and very convincing rabblerousers were among the first to descend upon Wednesday's unfortunate tragedy and turn it into something much more. Perhaps we could say something here about pent-up  anger at incompetent governance needing outlets. But perhaps it'd be equally worthwhile to say that some assholes decided to endanger public safety because they're assholes. How you react to this incident, like so many in China in the absence of solid facts, probably ends up saying more about you than the situation itself. I would just like to point out that some kinds of "hearsay" aren't too bad when it comes to elucidation. Anyway, there is a lot to be said about the problem of access to justice, public anger, and other factors that lead to this kind of behavior. Fine. Let's solve those problems. But in the meantime, we have to figure out how to use the Intertubes responsibly. There are a lot of good people out there interested in justice, and there are also a lot of assholes who want to rouse the rabble. And there are always oodles of rabble out there waiting for something to do. So every time someone bows down to the Net God as a savior when it comes to curing society's ills, I get a little worried. I know, not everyone pushes that these days. I was happy to hear Evan Osnos, in a great interview he did on the Charlie Rose show a few days ago, mention that the Net is not a panacea. However, the skeptics are still outnumbered by a wide margin. Look, I'm not saying that I love all the anti-rumor policies that have been introduced here over the years. When it comes to online speech, I'm perfectly happy to take the good with the bad. On the other hand, as Chris Rock once said about O.J. Simpson murdering the guy who was probably sleeping with his wife: while I don't condone it, I do understand it. Ultimately, someone needs to get the word out to the weibots (as well as local officials and judges) that knee-jerk reaction to online chatter is really not a good idea. © Stan for China Hearsay, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Internet

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