Movie Aims to Rein in China’s Online Mob

China’s notorious “human flesh search engines” are now the subject of their own movie. From NBC News:

“Invisible Killer,” produced and co-written by Xie Xiaodong, is the first movie to broach the subject of Internet vigilantism and dramatize the pitfalls of having a mobilized and motivated online mob administering its own brand of justice.

In the film, the main character, Gao Fei, is accused online of seducing a married woman. In response, his online “judges” mete out justice by digging up and posting personal information about him on the Internet. Branding him a “fugitive” online, the cyber assault on Gao’s character turns even nastier when his home is attacked and a manhunt sponsored by a Web site to locate and interview him turns violent.

The events portrayed in “Invisible Killer” may be fiction, but the story line is not far from reality.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Read also a review of the movie from Variety.

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