The Chinese Communist Party’s Cyberspace Administration has demanded major online platforms take action against “doxing” behaviors, cracking down on online investigations and malicious exposure of personal information. Experts believe that under the CCP’s monopoly and control of all citizens’ privacy data, the actions taken are more of a disguised suppression of public opinion supervision, an upgrade in maintaining stability.
On the 27th, the Cyberspace Administration of China issued a notice ordering local cyberspace departments and online platforms to address the issue of “doxing,” urging sites such as Weibo, Tencent, Douyin, Kuaishou, Baidu, Xiaohongshu, Zhihu, Bilibili, and Douban to combat such problems with a “zero tolerance” attitude.
According to a report by Caixin on the 27th, the “doxing” issue refers to the frequent occurrence of “human flesh searches” on online forums, where personal and private information of others is obtained through technical means and maliciously exposed to incite attacks and abuse by the public online.
Tang Jingyuan, a senior current affairs commentator living in the United States, told Epoch Times that the CCP’s sudden introduction of a zero tolerance policy towards online doxing is actually a sign of upgrading the control of online public opinion, a disguised suppression of online public opinion. He mentioned that there have been numerous cases where online human flesh searches by Chinese netizens have objectively played a role in supervising public opinion.
The incident involving Dong Xiyin that surfaced on the internet in April this year, stemming from a scandal, uncovered privileged collusion in the medical field.
Dong Xiyin, a Ph.D. graduate in internal medicine from Peking Union Medical College’s “4+4” program, had an extramarital affair with Dr. Xiao Fei, deputy chief of thoracic surgery at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital during her residency, and was reported by Xiao Fei’s wife.
After the incident gained attention online, Dong Xiyin was exposed by netizens for suspected falsification of qualifications when admitted into the “4+4” program at Peking Union. Officials later confirmed that Dong was a counterfeit Ph.D. and a “fast-track doctor.” This led to the exposure of several similar counterfeit Ph.D. and “fast-track doctor” cases. It even revealed that out of 112 international students admitted to Peking University’s medical department, 48 were from the small African country of Guinea-Bissau, with the clinical medicine major requiring only 190 points and the stomatology major 215 points, while domestic candidates needed over 630 points.
Dr. Gu, an ophthalmologist at the Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, is an international student from Guinea-Bissau. Netizens questioned whether such a doctor could be trusted with medical care.
In May, the “high-priced earrings” incident emerged, starting with mainland Chinese actress Huang Yangdian posting photos of her 18th birthday celebration on social media. Observant netizens pointed out the expensive earrings she wore, priced at around 2.3 million yuan (equivalent to RMB), and raised concerns about her father’s position regarding the relief funds after the Ya’an earthquake, suggesting possible corruption involving officials. On May 22, Huang Yangdian’s father, Yang Wei, a former government official in Ya’an, was placed under investigation.
These series of events in mainland China have exposed numerous corrupt officials.
Tang Jingyuan expressed that these incidents reflect the privileged class encroaching on the rights of ordinary people. The CCP’s so-called zero tolerance for online doxing is aimed at cutting off this channel and protecting the interests of the privileged class to the maximum extent.
The announcement by the CCP’s Cyberspace Administration states that illegally obtaining and disclosing personal information of others involves illegal activities and will address the “doxing” issue from three aspects. Firstly, it aims to cut off the spread channels and urge website platforms to clear any illegally published personal data. Accounts or groups organizing and instigating doxing behavior will be closed or disbanded.
Tang Jingyuan noted that in the past, the Cyberspace Administration controlled public opinion by controlling hot searches, or by censoring and deleting posts. Now, they are targeting the source by directly shutting down certain groups involved in doxing searches and may even resort to criminal penalties.
“Not solving the problem but dealing with the people who bring up the problems is a standard mode of CCP’s stability maintenance. It will only lead to one outcome, which is like fixing a leaking pressure cooker by sealing off all the leaks. Eventually, when the pressure cooker exceeds its critical point, it will explode,” he said.
Of course, online doxing has also harmed ordinary people.
Since the incident in March where Baidu Vice President Xie Guangjun’s daughter exposed netizens’ personal information, the “doxing” industry has come to the public’s attention.
For a few hundred yuan, anyone can purchase others’ personal information in overseas Telegram groups, including identification documents, photos, phone numbers, property ownership, travel information, marital history of potential partners, or even a month’s usage records of China Mobile or China Unicom.
Following the Xie Guangjun’s daughter “doxing” incident, numerous mainland journalists attempted to access databases and found that most of the information retrieved was outdated. If they wanted current information, additional fees were required.
A reporter from Southern Metropolis Daily who purchased information from a database inadvertently discovered that mainland Chinese public security officers were involved in trading people’s private information, where one seller openly admitted to collaborating with the police.
Wu Shaoping, a human rights lawyer living overseas, previously told Epoch Times that the Chinese Communist Public Security is the largest holder and manipulator of personal information. These departments, with administrative powers, essentially control public resources, thus gaining the power to exploit them.
He cited the existence of scam centers in the Myanmar Golden Triangle, with extensive and complete personal information on Chinese residents, even including details of individuals’ bank account balances. “If there are no insiders collaborating with these scammers within the relevant departments in mainland China, or even systematic involvement, the scam centers would not be able to obtain such comprehensive personal information.”
In order to control the people and hold all personal information and data, the CCP has a double-edged sword with data which has rebounded against the regime, such as doxing.
There is even an overseas “Evil List” dedicated to doxing Chinese officials. Known as the “Chinese Human Rights Accountability Database,” it is a website established by overseas justice activists primarily targeting law enforcement officers in China’s public prosecution system who violate human rights, detailing their basic information like IDs, phone numbers, photos, and their wrongdoings.
Lin Shengliang, the founder of the Chinese Human Rights Accountability Database (Evil List), previously told Epoch Times that all individuals published on their list are basically wrongdoers or authorized wrongdoers among CCP officials, with no involvement of ordinary people.
Lin explained that the CCP exposes ordinary people by stripping them of their privacy, and now if the CCP is exposed, they refuse to acknowledge it, using the excuse of protecting citizens’ privacy. If they genuinely wanted to protect people’s privacy, they wouldn’t have surveillance cameras, commentators, blind spot recognition, facial recognition, and fingerprint recognition.
Lai Rongwei, CEO of the Taiwan Inspiration Association (TIA), mentioned that the CCP did not foresee doxing occurring against themselves. Since major online platforms are tools under the party’s control, authorities’ crackdowns have never been from the perspective of ordinary people.
He noted that the CCP regime has never relaxed its control over everyone, and it is not a normal country. All information is completely controlled by the CCP Central, and they probably fear more exposure of unsightly actions by privileged individuals.