Hunting corrupt officials online: the human flesh search engine and the search for justice in China

While there is growing research on online politics in China some political uses of the Internet have tended to be overlooked. The focus of this article is on an emerging phenomenon in Chinese cyberspace, the human flesh search engine (HFSE), a term first used by the Chinese media to refer to the practice of online searching for people or 'human hunting'. While existing examinations have focused on breaches of individual privacy by these so-called online 'vigilantes' this study focuses on the ability of HFSE to reveal norm transgressions by public officials and lead to their removal. In order to give readers a comprehensive overview of what an HFSE is, the first section of this article provides basic information about it. In the second part, 20 well-documented HFSE examples are listed to show their varying aims and then HFSEs which focus on local governments and officials are shown to highlight the political dimensions of HFSE. In the third section, four case studies of government/official-focused HFSE are explored in detail to show political HFSEs' internal processes and underlying mechanisms

The Human Flesh Search Engine: Democracy, Censorship, and Political Participation in Twenty-First Century China

The Human Flesh Search Engine is a recent, unique phenomenon on the Chinese internet. Comprising of thousands of forum, micro-blog, and entertainment websites and mobilizing the overwhelming number of Chinese internet users, or netizens, the search engine is able to quickly find obscure information and identify seemingly anonymous internet personalities. These websites allow netizens to have their voices heard in an otherwise restrictive government, however these websites also become a hotbed for dissent, with web users highlighting stories and figures which they deem harmful to society. Through clever investigative work, netizens hunt down an individual\u27s identity with the goal of bringing about justice - often getting the individual fired or publicly shamed. The term “Human Flesh Search Engine” became viral in 2006 after a video of an anonymous woman crushing a kitten with her shoe was posted to a Chinese website. Chinese netizens quickly discerned the woman’s identity and used this information to harass the woman, prompting government involvement. This research examines cases of the search engine, focusing specifically on the themes of animal abuse, government corruption, and Chinese traitors. Within these contexts the pervasive issue of anonymity is discussed: those exposed through the search engine lose all anonymity, with personal information displayed to people all over the world, while those who seek and reveal this information have the luxury to hide behind online aliases. Connections are made to the Cultural Revolution era of Chinese history, and in particular to the movement of bigcharacter posters, which like the search engine mobilized large groups of people from all walks of society. Chinese netizens have even been referred to as modern-day Red Guards for their cyber-vigilantism. As the internet in China continues to expand and become accessible to a greater extent of the population, it is argued that the power of the Human Flesh Search Engine will need to be reined in

A Study of Cyber-Violence and Internet Service Providers\u27 Liability: Lessons from China

Cyber-violence and harassment have been on the rise and have been a worrying trend worldwide. With the rise of blogs, discussion boards, and Youtube, we may become targets of false allegations or our movements and gestures may have been captured by modern technology at any moment to be broadcast on the Internet for a public trial of millions to judge. In China, netizens have resorted to cyber manhunt, known as the “human flesh search engine,” to expose details of individuals who have violated social norms one way or another, achieving social shaming, monitoring and ostracism. Individuals concerned have little legal recourse to protect their reputation and privacy facing unwilling exposure in the Internet witch-hunt. Thus, this article studies the current legal position in China, and its inadequacy in the area of reputation and privacy protection. It argues for a system of notice and take down on internet service providers in the above two areas as a possible solution

Social movements using social media in a mined and censored world: examples in the United States and China

This purpose of this thesis is to examine data mining and data censorship in the United States and China through the Occupy Wall Street social movement and labor protest activity at the Foxconn, Foshan, and Lock factories. The question posed relates to the level of investment the U.S. and Chinese governments have made in data mining and data censorship to create either a predictable situation with regard to social movement activity, or to impede communication between social movement organizers in the attempt to stop protest. For the U.S. example, I outline the legal history and interpretation of the 4th Amendment as pertaining to data mining policies enacted now to show the legality of governmental actions regarding data surveillance. The evidence of this is in the Occupy Wall Street example, as I use Freedom of Information Act requested documents to show governmental agencies infiltrating and surveilling activity of the OWS movement using data mining. For the Chinese example, I outline the legal history of data censorship as explained through Chinese legal code. Evidence of these practices is shown in communication issues found amongst protestors in Foshan, Lock, and Foxconn factories. I conclude my argument with an alternative to the U.S. and Chinese methods in German rasterfahndung, or data screening. I describe rasterfahndung as a less extreme example of data mining that has evolve over time to exhibit an open dialog for change in mining policies as opposed to blanket, legal mining in the U.S

HUNTED BY THE CROWD: A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF COLLABORATIVE INFORMATION SEARCHING IN CHINA

This study explores a particular form of cyber surveillance in China known as "human flesh search," in which unrelated Internet users collaboratively conduct surveillance on fellow citizens. Its theoretical framework draws up the notion of panoptic model, first articulated in the early 1800s by Jeremy Bentham and then developed by the French social theorist and philosopher Michel Foucault. Unlike some previous studies on human flesh searching, which focus on highly publicized search incidents, this study examines cyber surveillance in its daily practice, and probes how and why collaborative searches occur in China. It also explores structural constraints and empowerment experienced by search participants through the lens of power, in order to understand such a controversial activity. The study involved content analysis of a Chinese leading search forum--MOP Human Flesh Search Forum; an online survey with 158 search participants; and in-depth interviews with 9 search participants. The study found that Chinese human flesh search often took the forms of coveillance (peer-to-peer surveillance) and sousveillance (bottom-up surveillance). Fun-seeking was the primary motive for participants, who are mainly male youths; being helpful is the next. Privacy invasions and power abuses have complicated or even undermined search practices, limiting the potential of this activity to contribute to civil governance. In terms of empowerment, participating in the human flesh search seemed to give individual searchers a sense of empowerment, but such effects vary greatly depending on individuals' knowledge, social resources and search experiences. Privacy invasions and power abuses were consistently evident in searching practices, limiting the potential of this crowd-based searching, even when this is said to promote justice, to contribute to civil governance. The study also found that the panoptic model is still highly relevant and useful in understanding collaborative online surveillance, especially the function and effects of "gaze." Once conducted in a collective manner, the gaze of fellow citizens can be greatly extended in its reach and intensified by massive participation. The human flesh search mechanism studied here has great potential to profoundly change China's media landscape, but such potential is limited by current media censorship and the lack of accountability of search participants. Although the study examines searching phenomenon only in Chinese cyber space, the findings may shed light on similar surveillance practices which have emerged elsewhere in recent years. The whole question of citizen participation might benefit from the explication of the role of participation in this form of surveillance

Monitoring, Creeping, or Surveillance? A Synthesis of Online Social Information Seeking Concepts

Affordances of Internet sites and Internet-based applications make personal information about romantic partners, friends, family members, and strangers easy to obtain. People use various techniques to find information about others, capitalizing on online affordances by using search engines to find relevant websites and databases; scouring the target’s social media or social networking site presence; accessing information about the target via their links or network association with others on social media; or asking questions or crowdsourcing information through online channels. Researchers have coined an assortment of terms to describe online social information seeking behaviors, such as interpersonal electronic surveillance, social surveillance, monitoring, patient-targeted Googling, cybervetting, websleuthing, human flesh search, lateral surveillance, Facebook surveillance, and Facebook stalking. Although considerable research has examined these behaviors, there has been little effort to clarify the concepts themselves. As a result, the literature is currently full of inconsistent and overlapping conceptualizations. To synthesize these concepts for future research, this review examines 73 online social information seeking concepts extracted from 186 articles. Specifically, the concepts are reviewed in light of their scope; the information seeker or target of information seeking (e.g., romantic partners, parents, children, employees, criminals); motives for information seeking (e.g., uncertainty, threat, curiosity); and the intensity of the behavior. Recommendations are provided for future research, such as employing clear conceptualizations and incorporating affordances. Finally, we offer a decision tree that researchers can use to help select appropriate terms to use in their work moving forward

The Human Flesh Search Engine in China: a case-oriented approach to understanding online collective action

There has been a growing interest in online politics in China. The research mostly focuses on the role of the Internet in two areas, one is its creation of a public sphere and the challenges it poses to the existing communication and political system, and the other one is online censorship undertaken by Chinese authorities to reduce the scope of political discussion online and keep the domestic cyberspace from being merged with foreign cyberspace. However, some political uses of the Internet in China have tended to be overlooked. This thesis seeks to redress this lacuna in research by examining the political focus of a recent Internet phenomenon the Human Flesh Search Engine (HFSE). This term might be more at home in pages of a horror novel but was originally applied by the Chinese media to refer to the practice of online searching for people or human hunting. While existing examinations have focused on breaches of individual privacy by these so called online vigilantes this study mainly focuses on the ability of HFSE to reveal norms transgressions by public officials and lead to their removal. As the politically-focused HFSE is part of the tendency of Chinese popular protest, it is necessary to explore how the HFSE differs from and is similar to those offline protests in China. A case-oriented approach is applied to the research on HFSE. More specifically, the first part of this research puts the understanding of HFSE in Chinese historical context, with the aim of exploring the common dynamics between HFSE and those historical examples of Chinese bottom-up collective action. Then in the second part, a comparison between HFSE and recent Chinese offline popular protests is conducted in order to establish the pattern of politically-focused HFSE. In the third part, based on the empirical cases, the research on HFSE continues with an exploration of HFSE s underlying causal mechanisms to answer a key question of this research: why did HFSE occur? The study implies that there are continuities with respect to the Chinese bottom-up collective action as HFSE and Chinese rural resistances as well as urban labour strikes in the twentieth century of China tend to show similar dynamics, which are determined by the power structure they are exposed to. Moreover, the internal process of politically-focused HFSE differs largely from that of recent Chinese offline popular protests, which indicates that HFSE does not have an offline equivalent, although some of its stages can be witnessed offline. Furthermore, HFSE s occurrence is brought about by a combination of online and offline factors, which are relevant to not only the Internet and Chinese cyberspace, but also the political system that has contributed to the growth of official corruption and low government credibility in China

The Separation of Internet Content Regulation in the face of the Convergence of Information and Communication Technologies： The Controversies, Challenges and Solutions for China

More than ten different departments in China have varying responsibilities for the regulation of the content of publications on the Internet. This separated regulatory structure has caused many challenges in the face of the convergence of information and communication technologies (ICTs), particularly the Internet. These challenges include the high compliance cost to ICT enterprises which effectively reduce incentives for high-tech startup companies and are detrimental to the innovative ability of the Internet itself. More generally, it creates tension for China’s successful engagement with the international community, decreases the international competitiveness of the Chinese ICT enterprises and stifles the development of global ICTs. China needs to adopt a more sophisticated approach to regulate Internet content and overcome these challenges in the near future. Failure to do so will widen the gap between China and the world’s developed countries in the Information Age. Key words: the Internet; the regulation of the Internet; content regulation; China Résumé: Plus d’une dizaine de départements différents en Chine assument les responsabilités variées du contrôle du contenu des publications sur Internet. Cette structure régulatrice séparée a causé beaucoup de défis en face de la convergence des informations, des technologies de communication et surtout de l’Internet. Tous ces défis contiennent un coût de conformité élevé pour les entreprises ICT（Information and communication technologies en anglais）, qui découragent effectivement les startups high-tech et qui sont défavorables pour la capacité innovatrice d’Internet lui-même.Plus généralement, il crée de la tension pour l’engagement de la Chine avec la communauté internationale, diminue la compétitivité internationales des entreprises ICT chinoises et ralentit le développement de l’ICT. La Chine a besoin d’adopter une approche plus sophistiquée pour régulariser le contenu d’Internet et surmonter tous ces défis dans le proche futur. Si l’on faillit faire cela, la distance entre la Chine et les pays développés s’agrandira dans l’Age d’Information. Mots-Clés: Internet; régularisation d’Internet; contrôle du contenu; la Chin