Human Flesh Search

Human Flesh Searching is a search that begins on an online forum, bulletin, or blog in order to find a person offline who, according to the people on the forum, has committed a crime against human rights. The searchers gather any information they can on their target, such as: credit card numbers, home address, work address, names of family members, email accounts, and phone numbers. This information is used to publicly humiliate the person by getting them fired, ruining their credit, or even forcing them to move. Human flesh searching is one way Chinese citizens rebel against the People's Republic of China's Internet censorship.

Total Information Exposure

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History

Human Flesh Search started with a viral video that was widely spread on the Chinese Web. The video was of a woman dressed in a leopard blouse, a black skirt, and silver stilettos, standing next to a river bank. She put down the kitten she was holding in her hand, smiles, and proceed to stomp the kitten to death with her sharp heels. One of the angry viewers asked for a clearer frontal view of the woman, the inquiries became more practical, and hence the birth of the Human Flesh Search.

Example

In one case netizens human-flesh-searched a government official who had attempted to molest a young girl. In this particular human-flesh-search, a security tape video was posted on the forum, which depicts a young girl running up to her parents and brother while Chinese subtitles explain that an older man (the government official) had tried to force the girl into the bathroom to molest her. The video continues to show the girl’s father and the older man arguing; the subtitles read that the man confesses to the crime while boasting of his power and position in the government. The search gathered personal information on the government official and found out what governmental position he held. The commotion generated from the forum got the official fired, even though the police said, they did not have sufficient evidence to indict him. Human-flesh-searches are a way for chinese citizens to go against the Chinese government in Internet censorship conflicts.

Ethical Implications

Human flesh searching is Internet stalking and furthermore, the process of preying on an individual using information found on the Internet. These searchers are acting as vigilantes, trying to enforce an ethical code without fair trial. Human flesh searching is popular in China where there is a different set of laws and legal process than here in the United States. Although, laws are different China, there must be some overlap in ethics between the Chinese and Americans citizens. A human-flesh-search must throw up some red flags in most individuals code of ethics, everyone deserves the right to a fair chance to explain themselves. Someone could be crucified by a human-flesh-search party that caught wind of an embellished rumor. Vigilantes are criminals in most countries because ethical codes are too big to be decided by an individual or even a small group, that is why justice systems are in place. It is not ethical to invade a person's privacy on the internet.