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
    中文字幕在线无码一区| 亚洲中文字幕久久精品无码APP| 亚洲一区二区三区无码中文字幕 | 免费无遮挡无码视频在线观看| 国产AV无码专区亚洲AV手机麻豆| 亚洲人成人无码网www国产| 无码少妇一区二区性色AV | 最新中文字幕在线| 亚洲午夜无码片在线观看影院猛| 秋霞鲁丝片Av无码少妇| 曰批全过程免费视频在线观看无码| 亚洲AV区无码字幕中文色| 久久精品无码av| 高h纯肉无码视频在线观看| 伊人久久精品无码二区麻豆| 中文精品久久久久人妻| 最好看2019高清中文字幕| 中文字幕精品亚洲无线码一区| 日韩乱码人妻无码中文视频| 国产日韩精品中文字无码| 日韩精品无码免费一区二区三区 | 亚洲AV无码久久寂寞少妇| 东京热av人妻无码专区| 中文字幕精品久久久久人妻| 久久精品亚洲乱码伦伦中文| 中文字幕在线看视频一区二区三区 | 亚洲av中文无码乱人伦在线r▽| 久久青青草原亚洲av无码| 99热门精品一区二区三区无码| 免费人妻无码不卡中文字幕系| 日韩精品无码中文字幕一区二区| 无码专区AAAAAA免费视频| 日韩网红少妇无码视频香港| 日韩精品中文字幕无码一区| 国产V亚洲V天堂无码| 久久久久亚洲av无码专区喷水| 18禁裸乳无遮挡啪啪无码免费| 久久中文精品无码中文字幕| 中文字幕av无码一区二区三区电影| 色综合久久中文字幕无码| 精品久久久久久无码中文字幕|