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Baidu scandal reveals paid censorship
By Ni Tao |
August 16, 2012, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
IN an information age, bad news travels much faster. The advent of social networking tools has amplified the impact of word-of-mouth, one of the most effective forms of communication.
A negative comment about a product, re-tweeted thousands of times on microblogs, can be devastating to businesses.
This makes it more challenging for some companies to manage their public image, especially when their products and services are widely scrutinized online.
But damage control is not so hard if they know the ropes, namely, whom to turn to for help. And they often do not have to do the dirty work on their own, as professional "cleaners" stand ready to help whoever pays.
A recent case involving Baidu, China's largest search engine, has brought to light the invisible struggle to block criticism and stay well-reputed online.
Four of Baidu's employees were sacked last week for charging fees to delete negative reviews of some companies. Three of them have been detained on the charge of taking bribes.
They had filtered out information harmful to their clients' image from Tieba, a forum-like service that attracts large visitor traffic.
Usually the censoring of Tieba content is left to the most active users, but this is not the case when money is involved.
It's the first time that Baidu's staff were punished for manipulating online opinion for pay, although the case is not so surprising to those familiar with its track record of charging for better search rankings.
In an interview with Xinhua last week, an unnamed Baidu official said it has a strict process of censoring Tieba users' posts, and every deleted thread is subject to review, in case post-moderators abuse their power. That Baidu's own staff violated their ethical code suggests how "strict" its internal control is. But Baidu isn't the only one who needs to clean up its moral record.
Years ago, after an unpleasant experience in a restaurant, I complained about its pricy and lousy food on a famous local dining review website.
Days later, when I revisited the website, my post and other poor ratings were gone. Some eateries are more web-savvy than you thought.
Usually companies whose reputation is at stake don't seek Baidu's help directly; rather, they do it via middlemen, so-called "Internet PR firms."
Nipped in the bud
These firms would try to negotiate a deal with websites' technicians to remove damaging posts. For tens of thousands of yuan, looming public relations fiascoes can be nipped in the bud. That's the way Sanlu, the defunct producer of melamine-laced dairy goods, managed to withhold the word from the public long enough before its wrongdoing was finally exposed a year later in 2008, by which point thousands of more babies were sickened after consuming its infant formula. At least six babies died and 300,000 fell ill.
Later it was revealed that Sanlu paid 3 million yuan (US$471,698) to a famous domestic search engine --- guess who? - to sweep the deluge of bad news under the carpet overnight.
Thanks to another of Baidu's lapses, the insidious practice of muting online exposes is brought out into the open. In the absence of laws governing online PR, China's cyberspace is regularly plagued by vicious mudslinging and counterattacks.
Companies have every right to hit back at attacks ordered by their rivals, but it's easy to mistaken rightful complaints for slander. Sensitivity to criticism is a good thing, it shows a company is image-conscious and eager to improve. But stonewalling and cover-up are not justifiable responses.
The latest scandal of paid censoring of online posts proves the enduring truth of the saying that "the market evolves where there is demand."
In their earnest efforts to tap that market, some firms seem to forget that bad news cannot be kept in a box for ever. Sanlu's demise is the best lesson.
Several thousand years ago, a Chinese historian famously said, "It's harder to control people's mouths than a fiery river." Damming the proverbial river of complaints may work temporarily. But as pressure builds, rapids will ultimately breach the levee.
Some firms simply don't get it.
A negative comment about a product, re-tweeted thousands of times on microblogs, can be devastating to businesses.
This makes it more challenging for some companies to manage their public image, especially when their products and services are widely scrutinized online.
But damage control is not so hard if they know the ropes, namely, whom to turn to for help. And they often do not have to do the dirty work on their own, as professional "cleaners" stand ready to help whoever pays.
A recent case involving Baidu, China's largest search engine, has brought to light the invisible struggle to block criticism and stay well-reputed online.
Four of Baidu's employees were sacked last week for charging fees to delete negative reviews of some companies. Three of them have been detained on the charge of taking bribes.
They had filtered out information harmful to their clients' image from Tieba, a forum-like service that attracts large visitor traffic.
Usually the censoring of Tieba content is left to the most active users, but this is not the case when money is involved.
It's the first time that Baidu's staff were punished for manipulating online opinion for pay, although the case is not so surprising to those familiar with its track record of charging for better search rankings.
In an interview with Xinhua last week, an unnamed Baidu official said it has a strict process of censoring Tieba users' posts, and every deleted thread is subject to review, in case post-moderators abuse their power. That Baidu's own staff violated their ethical code suggests how "strict" its internal control is. But Baidu isn't the only one who needs to clean up its moral record.
Years ago, after an unpleasant experience in a restaurant, I complained about its pricy and lousy food on a famous local dining review website.
Days later, when I revisited the website, my post and other poor ratings were gone. Some eateries are more web-savvy than you thought.
Usually companies whose reputation is at stake don't seek Baidu's help directly; rather, they do it via middlemen, so-called "Internet PR firms."
Nipped in the bud
These firms would try to negotiate a deal with websites' technicians to remove damaging posts. For tens of thousands of yuan, looming public relations fiascoes can be nipped in the bud. That's the way Sanlu, the defunct producer of melamine-laced dairy goods, managed to withhold the word from the public long enough before its wrongdoing was finally exposed a year later in 2008, by which point thousands of more babies were sickened after consuming its infant formula. At least six babies died and 300,000 fell ill.
Later it was revealed that Sanlu paid 3 million yuan (US$471,698) to a famous domestic search engine --- guess who? - to sweep the deluge of bad news under the carpet overnight.
Thanks to another of Baidu's lapses, the insidious practice of muting online exposes is brought out into the open. In the absence of laws governing online PR, China's cyberspace is regularly plagued by vicious mudslinging and counterattacks.
Companies have every right to hit back at attacks ordered by their rivals, but it's easy to mistaken rightful complaints for slander. Sensitivity to criticism is a good thing, it shows a company is image-conscious and eager to improve. But stonewalling and cover-up are not justifiable responses.
The latest scandal of paid censoring of online posts proves the enduring truth of the saying that "the market evolves where there is demand."
In their earnest efforts to tap that market, some firms seem to forget that bad news cannot be kept in a box for ever. Sanlu's demise is the best lesson.
Several thousand years ago, a Chinese historian famously said, "It's harder to control people's mouths than a fiery river." Damming the proverbial river of complaints may work temporarily. But as pressure builds, rapids will ultimately breach the levee.
Some firms simply don't get it.
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