Zhihu closes user’s account over outrageous comments on woman’s beating

Source:Global Times Published: 2019/6/26 20:08:40

A post looking for the suspect in the video spreads widely on Sina Weibo Photo: A screenshot of Sina Weibo



Chinese social media platform Zhihu has shut down a user's account after he wrote comments supporting a video of a man brutally assaulting a woman, claiming the man set a "good example" for people with antisocial personalities.  

The two-minute video, which remains posted on Sina Weibo, shows a man's vicious beating of a woman on a street at night, which has gone viral and caused massive public anger. The man was arrested late on Tuesday night by police in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning Province, reported the Xinhua News Agency. 

The man's violent assault was due to his "emotional turmoil" over his girlfriend, the report said. 

As netizens across the nation worried about the woman's condition and the man's whereabouts, a user replied to another user's question on Quora-like Zhihu on Tuesday, which asked "What do think about the man's violence against the woman?"

"The guy has done what many men with antisocial personalities always want to do but dare not. He has set a good example for us," said the user. 

"I was pumped when I saw the video… and I don't feel any sympathy" for the woman, added the Zhihu user. 

The comments fueled netizens' already boiling anger, who immediately demanded Zhihu delete the user's account.  

"We believe that the comments are extremely harmful to the victim and to everyone who cares about the case," Zhihu said on its official Weibo account Tuesday afternoon. The platform said the user was banned for "venting inappropriate values in extremely malicious ways." The platform, which did not provide a link to the video, also deleted the user's offensive comments. 

"Anonymity should not be used to spread malice, nor as a shield for the shady," said Zhihu's statement.

Posted in: SOCIETY,CHINA WATCH

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