Yes

Lin Liyao

Website employee

I think the cyber manhunt is an effective way to exercise people's right to monitor society. By using this tool, the truth can be exposed to the public quickly.

As is known, some behaviors do not violate any law or regulation, but they are immoral. Owing to this, they cannot be punished accordingly despite the fact that they impinge on society. Subsequently it allows for the perpetuation of similar behavior.

Fortunately, in this information era, cyber manhunt provides a way to punish immoral behavior. Any private information of the person being hunted can be found online so that the public will know them and their immoral behavior will be condemned. This is a powerful deterrent that can, to some extent, regulate people's behavior.

Unity is strength and the netizen collective is a powerful tool, useful to unveil the truth behind a specific incident and an effective way to exercise the public's right to know.

Song Zheng

Editor in chief of Tianya Web Forum

The human flesh search engine is a good searching tool.

Before illustrating my point, I want to clarify that it is not solely an engine of searching for people, but for information in a broad sense. It can provide more specific and professional information for users, supplementing the shortfalls of conventional machine engines such as Google and Baidu.

After the earthquake in 2008, this form of searching broke the restrictions of time and space, helping people to reunite with their families and friends. This is a good example to show the positive side of this search system.

A completely different example of its use in the now named cyber manhunting mode was the case of two girls who were charged 12,000 yuan ($1,767.6) for a haircut. After the media released this information, netizens searched out the location of the barbershop and gathered in front of it to protest against the unfair charge. The action resulted in the local government punishing the barbershop.

Gao Yifei

Legal expert

From the legal perspective, it is reasonable to support cyber manhunts. It doesn't necessarily violate people's privacy. In the context of the information era, when enjoying the great convenience brought by the Internet, one's personal information is inevitably exposed to the public at large. Individuals have no obligation to keep their friends' addresses or telephone numbers to themselves.

In addition, if the cyber manhunt was restricted, the freedom of speech and expression will be violated. In modern society, people have rights to freely express their views about government and individuals. If people are about to exercise this right to comment on an individual's behavior, they have to know and expose his or her relevant personal information. Cyber manhunts have created an avenue for many people to criticize immoral behavior, thereby exercising their right to freedom of speech.anexpression.