Scottish Centre for China Research

Abstract: Online visibility has been increasingly weaponized to cause individuals' "social death" (unrepairable damage to one's reputation within a community/society) when perceived transgression or offense is committed. This trend is illustrated by the rising phenomenon of digital vigilantism (DV) and "cancel culture" across different cultural contexts, which can be understood as a form of participatory surveillance. Focusing on Chinese empirical cases, Qian will draw on her historical overview of DV trends from 2006 and various case studies to map out the dynamics among main actors/stakeholders and the public discourses about this phenomenon in China.

 

Short Bio: Dr. Qian Huang is an assistant professor at the Centre for Media and Journalism Studies at University of Groningen. She obtained her PhD in October 2022 from Erasmus University Rotterdam. Her research expertise includes digital vigilantism, creative labour, and youth digital culture. She is currently working on projects studying how cultural workers and general citizens negotiate their identities and manage their visibility in daily production practices in contemporary surveillance culture and influencer culture, especially in transnational contexts.