After stabbing, China’s social media firms face probe over hate speech Tech

Taichung, Taiwan – For one user on the Chinese social media platform, Weibo, the problem was American.

“British people worry me too, but I hate Americans,” read the user’s comment.

For another, it was Japanese.

“I really hope the Japanese die,” the user repeated 25 times in one post.

Xenophobic and hyper-nationalist comments are easy to come by on Chinese social media platforms, even as some of the country’s biggest tech firms cracked down on hate speech following a series of knife attacks on Japanese and American citizens in the country last year. Had promised to tighten.

Since the summer, there have been at least four stabbings of foreign nationals in China, including an incident in September that killed a 10-year-old Japanese schoolboy in Shenzhen.

The attack, which occurred on the anniversary of a false flag incident orchestrated by Japanese military personnel to justify the invasion of Manchuria, prompted the Japanese government to demand an explanation from its Chinese counterpart as well as assurances that it would protect the Japanese. Citizens will do more for.

After the incident, some Japanese companies offered to repatriate their employees and their families.

Months earlier, a knife attack that wounded four American college instructors in Jilin placed United States–China relations under strain, US Ambassador R. Nicholas accused Chinese officials of not being forthcoming with information about the incident, including the attacker’s motive.

Beijing has expressed regret over the attacks and condolences to the families of the victims, insisting that the stabbings were isolated incidents.

“Similar cases could happen in any country,” Lin Jian, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, told a regular media briefing after the attack in Shenzhen.

While China’s Foreign Ministry and the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo did not respond to requests for comment, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., said Chinese law “clearly prohibits the use of the Internet to incite extremism, ethnic hatred, discrimination, violence.” and other information prohibiting the spread of violence.

“The Chinese government has always opposed any form of discrimination and hate speech, and calls on all sectors of society to jointly maintain the order and security of cyberspace,” the spokesperson told Al Jazeera.

While violence against foreigners is rare in China, the apparent increase in attacks in 2024 and the spread of hate speech within the city have raised concerns within the country, said Wang Zichen, a former Chinese state media journalist and founder of the newspaper Pekingology. Said.

“It has set in motion domestic discussions about this kind of speech and how to stop it,” Wang told Al Jazeera.

Despite pledges by Chinese tech companies to crack down on hate speech against foreigners, policing such content is far from straightforward, according to Andrew Devine, a PhD student at Tulane University in the US who specializes in China’s authoritarian politics. Is.

“Especially since (tech) companies have incentives not to regulate hate speech,” DeWine told Al Jazeera.

While the algorithms used by Chinese social media platforms to distribute content have been shared with the Chinese government, they have not been disclosed to the public, making it difficult to know the exact mechanisms by which indecent Language spreads online.

Elena Yi-Ching Ho, an independent research analyst focusing on propaganda and social media in China, said the algorithms used by Chinese social media platforms are most likely similar to those used by platforms outside the country. Not dissatisfied.

“They want to maximize engagement among users on their platforms, and they want users to stay on their platform as long as possible,” Ho said.

In the hunt for users’ attention, it may be tempting for Chinese influencers and vloggers to seek controversy with ultra-nationalist content, Ho said.

In today’s China, a perceived lack of patriotism can draw public attention.

Last year, Chinese water bottle company Nongfu Spring removed its bottles from stores after social media users claimed that a company logo depicted Mount Fuji in Japan.

Online condemnation was directed at the company’s owner, Zhong Shanshan, who stated his loyalty to China, an accusation amplified by the fact that his son holds US citizenship.

In 2023, a rock and eggs were thrown at two Japanese schools in Tokyo after Tokyo decided to treat radioactive waste water from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in the ocean.

Wang said the proliferation of negative comments about foreigners on Chinese social media is partly a result of growing hostility between China and some other countries.

“China’s relations with some countries have deteriorated significantly in recent years,” Wang said.

China and Japan have had several historical and territorial disputes, including the status of the Diayu/Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

The US and China have seen relations deteriorate in recent years from tensions over trade and the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic to Beijing’s claims of ownership over self-ruled Taiwan.

According to Ho, hate speech toward foreigners predates some of these recent clashes.

“And Japan and the Japanese have been particular targets of this,” she said.

Some Chinese bloggers and social media users have traced the roots of negative sentiment toward Japanese people to what they call “hate education” about Japan, including its imperial-era abuses in China.

Wang said that Japan’s actions during World War II deeply affected China’s national psyche.

“Japan launched the invasion in World War II, where many millions of Chinese people died, and that remains on the minds of a lot of Chinese people today,” he said.

“For some people, there is a feeling that the Japanese haven’t done enough to atone for this.”

Nevertheless, some Chinese citizens argue that Japan’s atrocities should not be used to justify hateful feelings toward the Japanese people today.

“I think we need to change the way we deal with our past if we want to see less hate speech,” Tina Wu, a 29-year-old social media manager in Shanghai, told Al Jazeera. social media manager Tina Wu told Al Jazeera.

While hate speech is not entirely a problem on China’s internet, Chinese social media platforms, unlike those in the US, operate in a heavily censored environment, where crackdowns on sensitive topics are a semi-constant occurrence.

China has the world’s least free internet environment, along with Myanmar, according to a report of 72 countries by US-based non-profit Freedom House.

In 2020, more than 35,000 words related to Chinese President Xi Jinping alone were subject to censorship, according to China Digital Times.

DeWine said that while some hateful commentary is subject to censorship, content that contradicts the Chinese government’s official position is less likely to be removed.

He said he doesn’t believe Chinese tech companies’ promises to crack down on xenophobia and hate speech will do much to change the spread of such material.

“At the same time, tech companies want to avoid taking on the additional cost of policing it,” he said.

No matter the motivation, social media platforms with more than a billion active users can realistically stamp out every instance of hate speech, Wang said.

“There is so much information and more is constantly being added that there is no way to exhaust or exhaust it all,” he said.

“Even Chinese Moderation Capacity Has Limits.”

Wang said he is optimistic that China’s recent favorable exchanges with some countries and the country’s growing power and influence will lead to less anti-foreign sentiment.

“China must have the confidence to walk into the future with a greater sense of security and confidence, rather than being haunted by memories of the past,” he said.

Shanghai’s Wu similarly said she expected to see a reevaluation of some dominant narratives in China, particularly those related to foreigners.

“It’s a big part of the Chinese story right now that we are constantly victims of foreign aggression,” she said.

“And as long as this continues to be a strong message, I fear there could be more attacks on foreigners in China.”