Internet manhunt or ren rou sou suo , literally “human fresh searches” is on the rise nowadays. In the past, there is such saying goes, on the Internet, no one would know you are a dog. Nevertheless, the anonymity of cyberspace has gone without trace. Now, Netiznes can trace down the hints or denunciation online and get one’s personal information exposed to the pubic, such as his/her name, home address, phone numbers, places of work and so on. Usually, those who are manhunt are not necessarily guilty of breaking any law. Instead, they are involved in moral turpitude or depravity, say, marital affairs, sex scandal, animal abuse, etc. Suppose someone posts a description of an outrageous event at a Chinese forum. Tens of thousands of comments are posted back as vigilantes ferreted out the personal information of the culprits of the event. Subsequently, a voluntary harassment campaign, including telephone calls or even threats, is conducted to insure the justice is served.
The controversy of the web manhunt stirs up a hot debate. As a matter of fact, some legislators from the National People’s Congress (NPC), have recently proposed amendment to the criminal code, which was aimed to codify the so-called “Human fresh search engines” phenomenon. According to Zhu Zhigang, a member of the standing Committee of the Congress who proposed the amendment, the Internet manhunt is not only a simple battle but a matter that severely impinge the rights of people.
The cyber manhunts, to be sure, have seriously battered the rights of some people. Frankly speaking, however, the flip side of this “human fresh searches” has its positive effect. Take the fake photo scandal for example. In late June, Zhou zhenglong, a peasant farmer in Shanxi province was arrested for faking a photo that shows a rare South China Tiger appeared in wild. It is Netizens who determined that the photo had been lifted from a poster. In most cases, unethical and outrageous acts could not lead to legal punishment. However, web users post their accusation on the Internet and take “justice” into their own hands.
Ultimately, the Internet manhunts could be simply viewed as good or evil. Just as some foreign media describe this phenomenon as “Chinese style internet manhunt”. With the growing scale and ferocity of the web manhunts, there are too much to ponder in the “human fresh searches” phenomenon.
