Can online anti-corruption efforts last long?

The netizens' efforts didn't change the high prices in the housing market. However, they made a great contribution to the downfall of a corrupt official.

Success of online surveillance is not rare these days. A post exposing two groups of officials from Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces, who were using public funds to travel overseas, led to the punishment of the persons in charge. Another post, claiming a Peking University girl was raped by a prefecture head in Hunan Province, resulted in an investigation of the governor concerned and exposed his corrupt life. The claim itself, however, was not verified by the investigation.

"The emergence of online anti-corruption efforts is a result of obstruction in the reporting system," said Lin Zhe, an anti-corruption expert at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee. As a form of mass public surveillance, online anti-corruption efforts reflect the shortcoming of the government surveillance system.

The good news is that a system is now in place to "connect" the anti-corruption campaign with the Internet. Last April, the Supreme People's Procuratorate revised its regulations on reporting and listed the Internet as a new channel.

However, Lin casts doubts on the perseverance of online anti-corruption efforts. "Netizens played a positive role in the case of Zhou Jiugeng. However, the Internet is not a desirable platform to crack down on corruption. There are two major concerns.

"One concern is the 'human flesh search engine,'" Lin said. "Frankly speaking, it is something like the mass democracy during the 'cultural revolution' (1966-1976), which was prone to harm citizens' privacy and dignity. Personal dignity is a basic human right. Whatever crime an official is convicted of, he is still a citizen and his dignity should still be respected."

The other concern, Lin said, is that online efforts are based on the assumption of being guilty. "When there's not enough sufficient evidence, a 'human flesh search' will alert the suspects and obstruct normal anti-corruption procedures. More importantly, these online groups are not judicial departments. Thus, they have no right to investigation," Lin added.

The fight against corruption and surveillance, at any rate, must follow relevant laws and regulations.