A collectivist culture and the lack of pressure on social media companies have made online abuse rampant.
By Kelly NgSix months after sharing a photograph on Chinese social media celebrating her graduate school admission with her bedridden grandfather, Zheng Linghua died.
It's unclear how Zheng died but last month a friend of hers broke the news on Xiaohongshu: "Because of bullying online and in school, Zheng Linghua's life ended on January 23, 2023". History teacher Liu Hanbo from central Henan province died in November that same year after trolls gate-crashed her online classes repeatedly. They hurled insults, played loud music, and spammed the group conversation. Authorities ruled out foul play in Liu's death but said they would investigate if she had been bullied online.
Reading through the posts and comments, it's hard to know what drew the trolls to Zheng. It could well have been her unconventional pink hair, which appears to have bothered some of her online attackers. Others even suggested she was romantically involved with an elderly man, a possible reference to her grandfather.
The subjects of such attacks have largely been people who were seen as tainting China's image in the eyes of the world.
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