Chinese internet platforms pledge to combat extremist remarks after stabbing incident

BEIJING – Major Chinese internet platforms have vowed to combat remarks that incite confrontation between China and Japan and stir up radical nationalism.

This follows a stabbing incident that led to the death of an altruistic Chinese woman and the injury of two Japanese nationals.

The incident occurred on June 24, when the suspect, surnamed Zhou, attacked two Japanese nationals with a knife in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. Ms Hu Youping, who tried to stop Zhou, was also stabbed and later died in the hospital on June 26.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed condolences for Ms Hu, and the Japanese embassy in China flew its flag at half-mast to honour her.

In statements over the weekend, five major internet platforms – Tencent, Baidu, Douyin, NetEase, and iFeng.com – praised Ms Hu’s bravery and righteousness.

However, they also condemned users who made extreme remarks encouraging confrontations between China and Japan or smeared Ms Hu as being a mole for Japan. The platforms have blocked or shut down accounts containing such harmful content.

The platforms stated they would continue to punish users who incite group hatred and extreme nationalism to draw attention and attract data traffic. They have also opened channels for users to report such behaviour.

Previously, Sina Weibo, China’s largest microblogging platform, issued a similar statement on June 26. It noted the presence of remarks inciting extreme nationalism and promoting group hatred following discussions of the stabbing. Sina Weibo said it had deleted more than 700 items of such content and punished 36 accounts. THE CHINA DAILY/ ASIA NEWS NETWORK