Beware of online behavior, anonymity is passé

A rivalry between two business partners surnamed Li and Zhang in Wenzhou city, Zhejiang province, led to Li repeatedly using invectives against Zhang on WeChat Moments, an interactive feature on the communication app WeChat, on July 16 and 17. He even posted a photograph of Zhang for all the 700 people on his contact list to view.

Zhang dragged Li to court, which ruled that he must apologize on his WeChat Moments and it should be visible to everyone for seven days. Li apologized on Friday and the apology is still there on his WeChat Moments.

In July, a court in Huizhou, in South China's Guangdong province, asked a woman to apologize to her former boyfriend on WeChat Moments, for seven days, for using invectives against him. In 2019, a man in Chongqing municipality was asked to not only apologize but also pay 1,000 yuan ($143.9) as compensation to his female friend for offending her.

It goes to show that those being irresponsible on social networking sites cannot escape accountability any more. One could defame others in the late 1990s, when the internet first arrived, and still remain anonymous.

However, that is not the case anymore, as social networking sites are merging the real and virtual worlds. Even the concept of "surfing the net" has become redundant now, as most of us are online 24 hours a day, either contacting others who are online, or paying bills, filling forms and submitting information or doing business. Even when we sleep, our smartphones are online, receiving information.

Therefore, people cannot escape responsibility for committing wrongs anymore, more so because it is near impossible to hide one's identity these days, and a snapshot can be a strong evidence for any inappropriate behavior. It is time people realized the need for regulating their behavior online.