Junk the online junkies, save the innocents

A recent piece of news has highlighted the cruel side of online violence. Qiqi, a high school student in Lufeng city of Guangdong province, committed suicide because she could not bear the humiliation of being called a thief. The tragedy has its seed in a CCTV footage of Qiqi that a store owner posted online, accusing her of stealing goods from the store. The video triggered a flood of online attacks on the girl, which didn't stop even after her death, with some heartless netizens saying, "she deserved it".

Online violence usually brings out the baser, illogical side of attackers and forces targeted victims to commit desperate acts.

I used to write a regular web column for China Daily a couple of years ago, and one of the greatest satisfactions of the job was getting feedback from readers. But the feedback also comprised comments that were often just personal attacks against me. Readers may assume that insulting comments is a harmless act, but evidence suggests that there is a big downside to mean-spirited remarks.