Social death

After former US President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, many social media platforms like Facebook, Youtube and Twitter announced restrictions or even banned his accounts, saying some of their content stoked animosity and advocated violence. Some in China have called this an example of shehuixing siwang, or “social death,” where a person is subject to intense public criticism.

Used by sociologists and historians for decades to describe people or groups not seen as fully human by greater society, such as during slavery or the Holocaust, the term found new meaning in the Chinese public's lexicon following a case from July 2020.

A young woman in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province went out to pick up a package from a delivery man when a nearby convenience store owner secretly took video of them and posted it online with claims that the woman was the delivery man's mistress. The rumor sparked an online assault against the woman that eventually destroyed her reputation.

The woman sued the store owner for damages and won. Ever since, shehuixing siwang has been used to describe someone who has been disgraced to the point they cannot appear in public.

The term garnered more relevance months later when a student at Tsinghua University wrongly accused a schoolmate of sexual harassment online and threatened “social death” on him. Now, shehuixing siwang in some cases means “online violence” or “lynching.” Social media users said that while public criticism is not always justified, it is difficult to curb its influence and harm.