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For most of the article, I was wondering how the author could avoid using the words "vigilante" or "vigilantism". It did show up near the end, in quotes, sound

by blahedo 14y ago

For most of the article, I was wondering how the author could avoid using the words "vigilante" or "vigilantism". It did show up near the end, in quotes, sounding like a positive thing. It does sound from this article like flesh searches are for comparatively noble causes; but as with any case where vigilante justice is glorified, I have to wonder what proportion of the victims of vigilantism really "had it coming". (To be fair, in a part of the world where rule of law is rather more tenuous, I think there is somewhat more place for such things... but it's a double-edged sword, and the back edge is very sharp.)

chris_wot 14y ago
This is a natural outcome for a system that has a large number of people but poor rule of law and arbitrary justice. Fix the legal system and reduce the corruption and you will get a corresponding decrease in "flesh searches".
- ddellacosta 14y ago
  I think that sums it up pretty well. The citizen reporter Wu Gan ("The Butcher") who the author interviewed for the piece put it thusly: "Some innocent people have been hurt, [and] personal privacy has not been protected, especially when information is incorrect. This kind of thing only happens in deformed countries. Because there's no rule of law or democracy, the Internet becomes citizens' only means of redress," he wrote to me. How closely this bears resemblance to what is called doxing here is up for debate; but certainly there is a difference in political import between doxing and this "human flesh search."
ihsw 14y ago
To summarize; where the rule of law fails the rule of man takes its place. Herd mentality (or 'mob mentality'), group intelligence, and -- more to the point -- decentralised decision making spring very quickly to mind. It is dangerous and usually easily taken advantage of, much like other similar structures (eg: stock market, taste in music, religion).

by blahedo 14y ago

chris_wot 14y ago

This is a natural outcome for a system that has a large number of people but poor rule of law and arbitrary justice. Fix the legal system and reduce the corruption and you will get a corresponding decrease in "flesh searches".

ddellacosta 14y ago
I think that sums it up pretty well. The citizen reporter Wu Gan ("The Butcher") who the author interviewed for the piece put it thusly: "Some innocent people have been hurt, [and] personal privacy has not been protected, especially when information is incorrect. This kind of thing only happens in deformed countries. Because there's no rule of law or democracy, the Internet becomes citizens' only means of redress," he wrote to me. How closely this bears resemblance to what is called doxing here is up for debate; but certainly there is a difference in political import between doxing and this "human flesh search."

ihsw 14y ago

To summarize; where the rule of law fails the rule of man takes its place. Herd mentality (or 'mob mentality'), group intelligence, and -- more to the point -- decentralised decision making spring very quickly to mind. It is dangerous and usually easily taken advantage of, much like other similar structures (eg: stock market, taste in music, religion).