Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
    Opinion
    Home / Opinion / Editorials

    Online click bait behavior has to have a bottom line

    chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2019-07-14 21:46
    Share
    Share - WeChat
    [Photo/VCG]

    On July 4, a young girl, Zhang Zixin, was taken away from home by two "amicable" homestay guests, who invited her to "a wedding" as a flower girl.

    On Saturday, the 9-year-old was confirmed dead after her body was found in the sea dozens of miles from her home.

    The two guests apparently committed suicide on July 8.

    In this age of social media madness, a tragedy like this, wrapped in mystery and suspense, has little chance of escaping those hungry for sensationalism. Those for whom such a tragedy is click bait.

    Such indecency is often associated with amoral web attention-seekers. This time, however, it was, not for the first time, Baidu, the largest domestic search engine operator, that was caught red-handed.

    Information available so far indicates that, the website's news channel set up an account in the name of the young victim's father, releasing information on the search for the girl after her father lost contact with her and reported her missing to the police.

    Baidu did not reveal it was not the little girl's father who was speaking until concerned followers of the account questioned the authenticity of the contents posted.

    Under pressure, Baidu said it fired the news editor who created the account, but insisted it got consent from the victim's father, and meant to help.

    What Baidu did was more likely than not a desperate move to stay relevant in the domestic internet market, where it has been on the losing side.

    Baidu enjoys a de facto monopoly in the Chinese online searching market. But it has abused that position and hence has a credibility crisis.

    Its notorious business model which puts those who pay more higher in its search results, drew public indignation nationwide for misleading users. At the peak of which the death of a young patient seeking online information for his treatment was widely attributed to Baidu's misleading role.

    After that, search results on Baidu were found flooded with messages promoting the company's own products, leading users to declare "Baidu as a search engine has died".

    Baidu does not want to die. And is striving hard to stay relevant.

    But without learning some corporate ethics, it can at best be said to be among the walking dead.

    And unfortunately, we have to say this is only the tip of the iceberg of this country's worrisome online public sphere at present.

    Most Viewed in 24 Hours
    Top
    BACK TO THE TOP
    English
    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
    中文字幕欧美在线| 亚洲精品无码专区在线播放| 久久久久无码专区亚洲av| 亚洲欧美精品一区久久中文字幕| 播放亚洲男人永久无码天堂 | 无码爆乳护士让我爽| 国产亚洲情侣一区二区无码AV | 成人午夜福利免费无码视频| 国产 亚洲 中文在线 字幕| 色欲狠狠躁天天躁无码中文字幕| 日本中文一区二区三区亚洲 | 中文网丁香综合网| 中文字幕7777| 亚洲AV无码资源在线观看| 成人无码一区二区三区| 亚洲AV无码久久精品蜜桃| 无码AV动漫精品一区二区免费 | 亚洲欧美日韩中文字幕二区| 色欲综合久久中文字幕网| 中文字幕无码毛片免费看| 久久伊人中文无码| 成人无码免费一区二区三区| 人妻无码一区二区三区AV| 亚洲AV人无码综合在线观看| 一本一道av中文字幕无码| 精品国产一区二区三区无码| 日本一区二区三区中文字幕| 精品久久久无码中文字幕| 最近中文字幕免费mv在线视频| 欧美日韩中文字幕久久伊人| 亚洲国产a∨无码中文777| 色婷婷综合久久久久中文 | 中文字幕二区三区| 中文字幕精品视频| 国产高清中文欧美| 自拍中文精品无码| 亚洲中文字幕无码不卡电影| 亚洲av无码乱码国产精品| 久久ZYZ资源站无码中文动漫| 久久精品国产亚洲AV无码偷窥| 国产午夜精品无码|