Everyday hero revives faith in humanity

Not beyond the law

While Hu has been lauded and mourned by the vast majority of people online, she has also been disparaged and attacked by a minority.

Several netizens spread rumors smearing Hu as a mole for Japan.

Others applauded the attacker for targeting Japanese nationals in the name of "patriotism" as a "delayed but righteous fight back" for the "historical debt" the Japanese owed to the Chinese people stemming from their aggression against China from the late 19th century to World War II.

The content, however, was promptly removed thanks to a crackdown initiated by major internet platforms, such as Tencent, Baidu, NetEase and Douyin in line with the law.

In their statements on the issue, the internet operators all praised Hu's righteousness and courage and stated that users who took advantage of the criminal case to post and spread extremist opinions or incite confrontations between the two countries must be condemned.

As punishment, the platforms have also blocked or shut down accounts containing such harmful information as punishment, and channels have been opened for netizens to report information on extremist remarks.

"As China undergoes the robust growth in cyberspace, it has not been rare to see some people make use of hot issues or criminal cases to invent their own anger or dissatisfaction to aggravate social contradictions," said Wang, the professor.

"Extremist remarks can bring more online views, which means great profits in the internet era, so some netizens are keen to post such content again and again," he said.

However, Wang is confident such content will not weaken the mainstream support for Hu, "as more and more netizens have enough understanding of such online marketing, and are also able to distinguish the harmful information."

"Hu's bravery in the face of the attack deserves respect, and should be learned about by more people," he added. "The closure of accounts that slandered or denigrated the woman is to adhere to the bottom line of human morality."

Zheng, the other Communication University of China professor, also praised the internet platforms' quick response, saying "it can prevent the harmful content from being further expanded, and also lead more people to see the incident more rationally."

She said that cleaning up the online environment is a major responsibility of all the internet operators.

"What they have done in Hu's incident was consistent with the cyberspace-related laws and regulations," the professor said.

China's punishment of accounts involving extremist opinions will also enhance mutual understanding between Chinese and Japanese citizens, and help deepen people-to-people exchanges, she added.

caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn