Global Voices Online

No, not Bruce Lee. The new regulations set to hit Chinese video sharing websites later this month could be regarded as strictly a censorship move, but then there's the fact that most of these sites can't even get properly licensed. Or the hundreds of clips of violence and porn uploaded each day that please anachronistic regulatory bodies to no end.

The inescapable blog story this week, however, and perhaps related, is that of 13 year-old Zhang Shufan, who was interviewed on CCTV late last month for a report supportive of the new regulations, in which Zhang talks of a recent online experience of having a website pop up showing something she describes as both erotic and violent. ‘Websites pop themselves up?' wondered some, as others began speculating on the possible mainstream culprits. True or exaggerated or a line fed to her, her choice of words have seen many bloggers responding with mockery and even malice, making her the victim of what some have concluded addresses an even larger and uglier problem, represented in this case by state mouthpiece CCTV's reporting techniques; all sorts of her personal details were dug up by netizens and posted online, prompting her father to respond in kind with an open letter, translated by Roland Soong at EastSouthWestNorth:

I am the father of Shufan. During the past few days, people have been giving Shufan funny looks. Then I found out that this was the result of the Internet activities. When I got on the Internet and read the posts, I found it impossible to tolerate. You people are really going too far. Shufan is just a child. Her world and personal views are not fully developed, and she might have said something inappropriate. But does it justify your wilfully attacking and insulting her? Not only did you use vicious language to insult Shufan, you even used Photoshop pornographic cartoons to debase her character. Do you know how much mental anguish your have caused Shufan? Meanwhile, will the person who created the Photoshop cartoon dare to stand out and identify himself/herself? I don't know if you people know what conscience is anymore.

I don't think that Shufan said anything wrong. You have started a so-called human search to locate Shufan. I can tell you that we live in Wanshou Road, Haidian District, Beijing City. You are welcome to visit us anytime. At the same time, I am warning you (especially those who did the Photoshop cartoons) that I will use the law to defend the legal rights and human dignity of Shufan and myself!

Comments characteristic of the sort being directed at Zhang can be found in English here, and this spoof video is quite tame in comparison to a lot of what's out there:

MSN Live Spaces blogger Li Lin Psy1982 sums up quite well the response to the bullying in her January 8 post, ‘CCTV might have no shame, but certain mobsters definitely have no shame~~':

看到朋友的msn ID后缀变了，上面写着“2008年首个网络流行语——‘很黄，很暴力’”～～～怎么说呢，最近个把星期，在温哥华这个大村镇呆着，几乎和国内的新闻动态绝缘了，所以我完全不知道这个ID的典故和出处，于是很好奇地开始google～～～结果，很让人……不爽～～～
…
这就是典型的中国式的网络暴民的行为了～～～在GFW的封锁下，言论自由受到了限制，于是大多数网络蠢货（我的意思是，网上大多数人都是蠢货；但是还有少部分不蠢的，比如说本人～～）颇为不忿——但这是ZF的行为，怨有头债有主——长工被地主踢了一脚，于是回家打老婆出气，这种行为只能被鉴定为 IQ过低～～～

话说CCTV这个机构，在平均IQ上也是很低下的——所以它浪费着那么多纳税人的钱，却也没能把自己变得更可爱一点，只会做一个很娱乐的调查，宣布全国人民都喜欢新闻联播——从智力水平来看，网上的蠢货都去看CCTV，倒也不失为一种恰当的组合方式……
…
随手google出无数条恶毒的攻击，一时间竟有些难以想象，竟然有那么多人，如此热衷于向一个孩子谩骂——而谩骂的理由是，这个小朋友应该像江姐一样，面对CCTV的威逼利诱宁死不从……Bull shit～～～～mop完全可以颠倒一下尾字母，从此叫做mob…

Peng Yi at iZaoBao writes:

再回顾昨天，著名新闻节目上一个小女孩因为一句“很黄很暴力”被广大网友口诛笔伐。我们的这些行为与一群暴徒不看清真相围着一个小女孩轮奸有什么区别？我们要唾骂的，应该是背后那个操控这个女孩儿的主使。

黄和暴力的问题，应该交给分级制度来解决。作为一个具有完全行为能力的公民，爱看什么是他的自由。而一旦这种自由被道貌岸然的喉舌们假借一个花季少女的口来进行批判，这一切就显得滑稽可笑。我相信网友们指向的绝非这位小朋友，而是事件本身。换一句话说，就是“我们被愚弄得太久了”

Cultural critic Wang Xiaofeng, who refers to all his readers as chimpanzees, despite his irreverent tone has a background in law. In Zhang's case Wang takes a position similar to the one he blogged a few days ago with regard to the steamed bun non-hoax, that some regulation is warranted. To that on January 4 he wrote:

第一个报道“国标馒头”的记者是个傻逼；
对国家标准部门群起而攻之的人都挺弱智；
中国人在标准化这个问题上一无所知；
将标准化与政治集权化联系在一起的人脑子都进水了；
中国有广泛的假冒伪劣和缺斤短两的群众基础；
我们从来不去想想自己的权利是怎么受到侵害的；
麦当劳的汉堡都能标准化，我们副食店的馒头为什么不能？

In his Jan. 8 post on Zhang Shufan, ‘Just who is very yellow, very violent?', after apologizing to readers he might have offended with the frequently vulgar language he uses on his blog, and admonishing them if they don't like it not to come back, Wang writes:

言归正传，说说张◇◇的事情。事情既然从CCTV引发的，那我们先从CCTV说起。这个新闻我没看，其实根本不用看，看了这么多年CCTV，还不知道他们的路数——就是编导或制片人希望听到一句他们想听的话，用诱供的方式逗出被采访者说出这句话。如果仔细分析，每句话都可能有代表性，但要看你怎么说，看你把什么当成重点。你看做电视的人都这样，采访一个人可能录像一个小时，但最后用的时候可能就几句话，选择这几句话很讲究的，被采访者必须说出编导和制片人的心声，比如张◇◇小朋友就做到了，然后掐头去尾，断章取义。其实央视的记者完全可以上各大门户网站，把页面打开，对着电脑屏幕拍一些很黄很暴力的页面，但是他们为了更有震撼力，一定要把一个未成年人揪出来对着镜头说这句话，而且说得那么精辟、深刻。这五个字充分体出了中央电视台的伪善新闻价值观，同时也暴露了所有中国人都习以为常的传统——意识不到保护未成年人。

[…]

事实上，我没有看到反思，我看到了暴力，我没有看到央视获得什么道德分数，却看到了他们的无知和不负责任，虽然中国的《未成年人保护法》里面没有规定未成年人不能接受媒体采访，但是从未成年人保护的角度出发，也该慎之又慎，甚至我认为，CCTV把张◇◇的名字打出来都算侵犯她的隐私。

[…]

网民们像是被捅到了G点，立刻兴奋了起来，当他们拿这件事去说事，去恶搞，也都忽略了一个对未成年人保护的意识（他们又能有什么意识呢）。可见，对未成年人保护在中国是长路漫漫。而众多网民狂欢式的恶搞，实际上在伤害着一个未成年人的心灵，她的图片遍地都是。他们图的是过瘾，比如很兴致勃勃地宣称这五个字是今年第一条流行语，妈了逼的，当然这个小朋友不是你女儿或你侄女。

[…]

中国的互联网和中国电影一样都面临这样的一个问题：内容该分级。比如新浪网站，我一直是把它当成色情网站来看，就是把男盗女娼和仁义道德完美结合在一起的那种门户网站。当然，其他网站也好不到哪里去，有一个算一个。这就好比把妓院开在超市里面一样，谁都能看到。如果网络不分级，好多问题都解决不了。有了分级制，至少可以加强公众对未成年人保护的意识。

The discussion has gone semantic over at Bullog, with web veteran Beifeng defending the check-and-balance role Chinese netizens have come to play in Chinese society, arguing that netizens should be using Zhang and her phrase to say a thing or two, and about who or what that actually is, he writes, everyone is perfectly clear: at thirteen years old, she is old and capable enough to know not to lie about something like this, and to know that one only finds erotic and violent websites if one is looking for them (assuming she wasn't referring to “Skinhua”). He states, however, that this can't be taken too far, adding that it already has:

张殊凡承受的压力，就是她说谎所必须付出的代价。我们不会与一个说真话的小学生过不去，只要张殊凡愿意告诉大家，她说谎了，或者告诉我们，她在什么情况情况下看到了这个网页，看到了一个什么样的网页，我相信，广大网友绝对不会难为她。甚至，会为她勇于承认错误面对真相感到骄傲。

最操蛋的就是她的父亲。如果张殊凡是被授意而说谎，她的父亲以其“未成年”作为杜悠悠之口的借口，与欧阳志远的“侮辱”之辩有何两样？他首先应当代表其女儿说明真相，甚至向公众道歉。

在我看来，以“未成年人”的理由来指责网友“ 畜生”的人，与欧阳志远之流也没什么两样。

The “beasts” comment he refers to comes from humorist Wang Pei, who on January 7 wrote a post “Beasts, be nice!”, since changed to read “Non-beasts, be nice!”:

那个说出“很黄，很暴力”的小姑娘成为某些网民口诛笔伐的牺牲品，以至于她的父亲不得不出来发表了一封公开信。
对于这件事，我很愤怒！未成年人有免受黄色暴力内容侵害的自由，即使在你们崇拜向往的西方国家也是如此。
我不是道德家，我承认我比你们还黄，我有钱了，就会买一台双核8Tb的服务器，里面装满毛片。
我也不赞成网络扫黄，反对一切伤害表达自由、浏览自由的管制。
但这不等于你们可以为所欲为，这不等于没有底线！
畜生们非畜生们，行行好吧！放过这个小姑娘！