Short-video sharing platform Douyin vows to crack down on cyberbullying

Douyin, a popular Chinese short-video sharing platform, responded on Friday that it is cooperating with an investigation and will tighten its management of improper, unfriendly content of cyberbullying.

The response followed a recent incident where a 57-year-old obstetrician-gynecologist surnamed Shao died after falling from a hospital in Zhoukou, Henan province, earlier this month, suspected of being involved in three medical disputes and bearing long-term cyberbullying from family members of the patients.

In Douyin's statement, it said that 15 accounts registered by the patients and their family members of the three medical disputes had posted 89 videos telling their experiences, complaining, and condemning the doctor and the hospital from Dec 4, 2024, to Aug 1.

Among the total, 76 videos have been not allowed to be viewed or even taken down by the platform for violating the platform's rules, with the removal of 457 improper comments by the 15 accounts.

Between December and January, the platform also received 48 reports from Shao and her agents, of which, 32 were approved by the platform. It took down 19 videos complaining or condemning Shao and prohibited one account from posting videos, according to the statement.

Douyin said that it checked comments on videos posted by Shao in the past eight months — from Dec 1 to Aug 2, stating that Shao got 10,900 comments during the period with most speaking highly of her medical skills and ethics. Fifty-one of 60 unfriendly comments attacking Shao under her account were removed by the platform soon after being posted.

"So far, aside from accounts registered by the patients and their families, we have not identified any other instances of escalated verbal attacks or unfriendly statements against Shao. We are collaborating with the authorities' investigation," Douyin said in the statement.

It added that combating cyberbullying and handling improper content is the responsibility of the platform, and it will continue to optimize its management to protect its users by regulating unfriendly or aggressive content. It also encourages its users to report to the platform whenever their rights are being encroached upon.