Media platforms clamp down on online clips showing violent retribution

Aman known as “Brother Ze” has become the embodiment of justice after a video went viral of him helping a woman who claimed she was blackmailed by a man who had gained access to her private photos.

In the video, a purported reconstruction of events, the man obtained the photos when he repaired the woman’s computer for her at her home, the woman tells Brother Ze.

The woman in the video manages to lure the blackmailer to her home, Brother Ze then violently beats him and forces him to return the 20,000 yuan that he had extorted from the woman.

Similar videos featuring violent acts of retribution have been widely circulated on Chinese social media platforms recently, including Weibo and Wechat. The videos are often headlined with eyecatching keywords, quickly grabbing massive numbers of clicks.

Such videos usually begin with “victims of injustice” recounting their experiences, and continue with socalled saviors getting revenge for them, mainly through violent means – some videos have featured the perpetrators of these injustices having their heads beaten with wine bottles, or in one extreme case, being forced to eat excrement.

These videos have prompted experts to warn against the glorification of violence, as it could exacerbate fragmentation in society and have a particularly harmful effect in cyberspace.

Brand of justice

Despite containing violence, the videos brand themselves with noblesounding keywords, such as “justice and “positive energy.” They even post slogans on their WeChat accounts – “Justice might come late, but it will show up eventually!”

For the people who post these videos, violence is a justifiable means of dealing with unfairness.

One Wechat account which compiles videos from various other accounts writes on its main page that “for human beings, there is one thing brings us success