在近期中国与日本之间紧张关系的背景下，一桩引发全球关注的悲剧性事件——一名中国男子袭击了一名10岁的日本男孩——成为了舆论焦点。这次事件不仅引发了东京当局对北京方面的诉求，希望后者采取行动遏制煽动反日仇恨言论的行为，也揭示了网络空间中的民族主义情绪与现实世界之间紧密联系的真实情况。
长久以来，中国政府在互联网上推动着宣传和传播工作，包括允许疑似日本儿童喊出“要征服中国”的假视频流传以及散布关于福岛核灾难的谣言。这起事件清晰地表明，线上煽动性言论最终会影响到线下，尤其是当执政党通过严格控制网络以维持社会秩序时。
面对这一挑战，北京方面确实有责任加强对此类内容的治理。然而，在这次事件之后，网上讨论攻击行为的内容也遭到了广泛的审查和删减，尤其是在同情或质疑反日论述为何能够蔓延到如此规模的场合上。
尽管政府行动有限，但来自中、日两国的民间努力在推动双方和解方面展现出了一线希望。例如，深圳日本学校的学生遭遇不幸后，收到了来自中国民众超过1000束的慰问花束；而东京的数十名居民自发组织了一场烛光悼念仪式来哀悼该男孩。
这些行动不仅反映了中日人民之间的深厚情感联系，还体现了两国民众在不同立场背景下的共同之处。事件发生一个月后，深圳市的袭击者被证实是一名失业人员，这引发了全球范围内的担忧——经济压力和社会动荡时期，网络上的仇恨言论可能加剧社会紧张和暴力风险。
在中国社会媒体平台上，政府对信息的严格控制导致了一种隐性的监控环境，使得这种讨论变得更加复杂。此外，近期的一系列事件表明，即使在官方层面采取行动之后，仍然存在更多需要解决的问题，如如何更好地处理对日本的历史情感和舆论导向问题。
最终，消除网络仇恨言论不仅是中、日两国之间修复关系的关键一步，也是全球社交媒体健康发展的必要条件。尽管短期内面临的挑战复杂且艰巨，但通过加强沟通、理解与尊重彼此的文化历史背景，中、日双方可以携手共同为未来的关系发展奠定更加坚实的基础。
这样的努力不仅需要政府层面的协作和政策调整，也需要来自社会各界的支持和参与。只有当每个人都意识到仇恨言论对社会和谐造成的威胁，并愿意承担起传播积极信息的责任时，我们才能真正走向一个和平、包容与相互尊重的新时代。
新闻来源：www.bloomberg.com
原文地址：China’s Social Media Is Spurring Real-World Violence
新闻日期：2024-09-26
原文摘要：
Nationalism, propaganda and hate speech on social media have been widely linked to a shocking act of real-world violence that threatens to destabilize an already fraught relationship between China and Japan.After a Chinese man a 10-year-old Japanese boy earlier this month in Shenzhen, Tokyo officials have demanded their Beijing counterparts do more to curb online posts fueling anti-Japanese hate in separate this week.The Chinese government has spent years promoting such propaganda online, including allowing fake videos of Japanese children supposedly screaming that they will take over China or spreading about the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The tragedy shows that it’s impossible to keep the nationalism promoted online from having consequences offline, particularly when the ruling party fosters such animosity by heavily curating and censoring the internet behind the Great Firewall. Beijing has a responsibility to crack down on this content.But already, many internet discussions of the attack are being censored, especially those expressing sympathy. In the absence of top-down action from the Communist Party, people from both countries are working both online and offline toward reconciliation, offering glimmers of hope.The Shenzhen Japanese School, where the boy was a student, has received more than 1,000 bouquets of condolence flowers from Chinese people, according to a on Weibo. (An especially powerful gesture of peace as many of those dropping off flowers , fearing it would cause trouble with authorities). Dozens of Chinese residents in Tokyo organized a candlelight memorial for the boy. “We wanted to convey to the Japanese people that not all Chinese are like the perpetrator,” an organizer told a local . The boy’s Japanese father reportedly penned an emotional , saying that fostering understanding between the two nations will be his way of atoning for his death — and his form of “retribution for the perpetrator.”China has insisted the stabbing was an “isolated” incident, but has not disclosed motive. The killing occurred on the 93rd anniversary of the Mukden Incident, a railway explosion set up by Japanese forces and used as an excuse to invade Manchuria. The Japanese Imperial Army went on to commit unspeakable wartime atrocities in China.Resentments run deep, but the Chinese government has also been accused of still teaching and promoting anti-Japanese sentiments to the current generation, almost 80 years after Japan’s World War II surrender. Beijing the allegation.Violence caused by digital hate speech is a global issue. In the US, former President Donald Trump was banned from most social media platforms in 2021 for inciting violence with posts leading up to the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol. Human rights groups have -parent Meta Platforms Inc. of spreading dangerous hate speech against the minority Rohingya population in Myanmar, leading to mass violence in 2017. This summer, online misinformation and an was linked to fueling far-right riots in Britain. But a core difference in China is that social media platforms are heavily and opaquely regulated by authorities. And as social tensions and uncertainty surge amid a period of economic malaise, allowing digital hate to fester is dangerous. The Shenzhen stabbing suspect was unemployed, and xenophobia around the globe has been shown to thrive in times of economic anxiety.The attack comes roughly three months after a Chinese man assaulted a Japanese woman and her child at a bus stop in Suzhou. A Chinese bystander later died from injuries after jumping in to help. As my colleague Minxin Pei has , the easiest and quickest way for Chinese leaders to prevent further tragedy and mend the relationship is by toning down anti-Japanese propaganda.For their part, Japanese politicians would be wise recognize the lingering pain felt by their neighbors, and where convicted war criminals are commemorated. Beijing must also show a sustained commitment to eradicating internet hate speech. In the wake of the July attack, the Cyberspace Administration of China announced a to target the “spreading of extreme opinions” that provoke “group opposition.” And mouthpieces for the CCP that domestic platforms including Weibo, Tencent’s WeChat, ByteDance’s Douyin and others were cracking down on “extreme remarks against Japan.” At the time, Weibo said it suspended or shut down 36 accounts and WeChat said it did the same for 61 accounts. But it’s clear more needs to be done.Even this month, expressing sympathy and questioning why anti-Japan rhetoric was allowed to reach this point were censored. And Japanese social media users were riled up after the Chinese Embassy urging citizens to take safety precautions if they travel to Japan “in light of the current situation.” The warning prompted viral responses on X, formerly Twitter, from Japanese users telling Chinese people not to come to Japan and other xenophobic, anti-Chinese remarks. The memory of the boy himself is proof these two sides have more in common than it might seem. He had a Japanese father and a Chinese mother, with cultural roots in both countries. Beijing and Tokyo must listen to their citizens and tone down the damaging rhetoric. More From Bloomberg Opinion: Want more Bloomberg Opinion?. Or you can subscribe to .
