Recently, NetEase News published a "provoking war" post on Bilibili, which aroused strong dissatisfaction and doubts among netizens, and ultimately led to the ban of its official Bilibili account.

The cause of the incident was that at 10:50 am on August 25, 2023, NetEase News posted a dynamic on its official account at Bilibili, which read as follows:

In view of the nuclear wastewater discharged by neighboring countries, the editor believes that we should make preparations early, such as: 1. Don't get married and have children, so as not to pollute the next generation of the motherland; 2. Save more and spend less in case of accidents; 3. Don't buy a house or a car, as people may not live that long; 4. Try to lie down at home, don't go out and run around, and it's okay not to go to work.

Combined with the Japanese government's decision to discharge contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, this post is clearly a sarcastic mockery of the Chinese people's concerns and opposition to this matter, which not only hurts China's national interests and national sentiments, but also puts itself at the forefront of public opinion.

The result of the incident was that the hammer was asked for and the hammer was hammered. This post quickly triggered strong backlash and condemnation from netizens. Faced with pressure from public opinion, NetEase News did not apologize or explain in a timely manner, but deleted the post in the afternoon of the same day. However, its official Bilibili account ultimately failed to escape the platform's sanctions and was banned on the same day.

NetEase News account was banned, it's not unfair at all

Regarding Japan's discharge of nuclear wastewater, NetEase News's strategy to whitewash the situation is to divert attention and list several major problems facing the current domestic social economy, intending to arouse people's "reflection", such as not getting married and having children (declining birth rate), saving more and spending less (weak domestic demand), not buying houses or cars (housing market crisis), and lying down at home and not working (high youth unemployment rate).

However, from a logical point of view, these contents have nothing to do with Japan's nuclear wastewater discharge into the sea, even if they are not the right remedy. The meaning of whitewashing is very obvious: "There are so many problems in your own country, why do you care about your neighbors?"

Although I also have a bit of a weird sense of humor, I still cannot empathize with the weirdness of NetEase News.

It's like there's a fire in your neighbor's house, but you express disdain for your angry old father who urges you to go out and take shelter, and point out that the faucet at home is leaking badly, so why doesn't it take it seriously?

This behavior of turning a blind eye to the huge risks and problems brought by neighboring countries and trying to divert attention and cover up the problems by using domestic issues can be said to be extremely inappropriate, and netizens' accusations of its stance are not groundless.

In fact, on August 24, when the whole country was paying attention to the official discharge of Japan's nuclear contaminated water into the sea, NetEase News did not publish related reports on its account. Instead, it released a video titled "Traditional art? Residents of a community in Shandong queue up to buy salt. Witnesses: Fear of Japan's nuclear wastewater", using the phrase "If we can't eat sea salt, can we eat mineral salt?" to ridicule the citizens for "making a fuss" and being "ignorant".

However, some locals pointed out in the comment section that people were lining up to buy salt because the local supermarket was having a promotion where 50 bags of salt were sold for 20 yuan, and that the NetEase News report was clearly a misinterpretation.

The reason why the Chinese people are ridiculed for "rushing for salt" is that NetEase News has always supported the argument that "Japanese food is safe", and even stated that "radiation levels in most parts of Japan have long returned to normal, and are even lower than those in some Chinese cities."

As an influential news media, NetEase News should follow the principle of objective and independent journalism and provide users with balanced reports from multiple angles. However, it seems that NetEase is always keen on reporting positive news about the United States and Japan and reporting negative news about China. Its channels are filled with negative reports like the one shown above.

Moreover, this outrageous news reporting angle seems to be the "traditional skill" of NetEase News. Some netizens have made a collection of NetEase News. There are too many similar examples, and only a small part of them are included here.

It is precisely because of NetEase News' long-term unbalanced reporting style that it has become the "anti-China party's base camp" in the eyes of netizens who "oppose everything Chinese".

NetEase News failed to uphold the principle of objective and independent journalism

News is a mirror of social life and a window for people to understand the world. As an important carrier and guide of public opinion, news media should follow the principle of objectivity and independence, and provide users with true, comprehensive, timely, accurate, fair, balanced, diverse, in-depth and warm information content. Only in this way can users' information literacy and judgment be enhanced, their sense of social responsibility and participation awareness be improved, and social progress and civilization be promoted.

However, NetEase News did not do this. NetEase News has shown serious problems with its stance on major events. It is always against China and has shown a stance that is contrary to mainstream public opinion, national interests, and national sentiments on various major events. This behavior not only violates the authenticity and fairness of news, but also damages China's national interests and national sentiments, and has aroused strong dissatisfaction and doubts among netizens.

Behavior of breach of trust and irresponsibility at the propaganda level will not only affect users' information acquisition and cognition, but also pose potential harm to national security and stability.

A typical example is the infiltration of Xinjiang’s Ministry of Education by foreign forces.

On April 2, 2021, CGTN broadcast the fourth Xinjiang counter-terrorism documentary "Undercurrent: China's Counter-Terrorism Challenge in Xinjiang". The third chapter of the documentary "Textbooks with Evil Intentions" revealed the serious infiltration of the "three forces" into Xinjiang at the cultural and educational levels.

Shatar Shawuti, the former deputy secretary of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Education Working Committee, former director of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Education Department, and a "two-faced person" who was dismissed in 2017, has led a criminal group since 2002 and took the lead in planning and compiling problematic Uyghur language textbooks for primary and secondary schools that contain blood, violence, terror, and separatist ideas, and has allowed these textbooks to be used in the autonomous region for 13 years. They attempted to change and distort history, instill separatist ideas in students, increase ethnic hatred, and achieve the goal of splitting the motherland.

Education and the media, as important national tools for shaping people's thoughts and consensus, should be treated more cautiously and should not become tools for a small group of people to realize their ambitions and gain benefits.

It is undeniable that it has long been an unspoken secret among netizens that NetEase News is biased towards Japan and the United States in its news reporting. Some netizens who use NetEase News intensively said that "the approval rate for comments on NetEase that do not flatter the United States is about 10%", which means that the image of NetEase News as a "base camp for anti-China party" is deliberately created for its maintenance, and the reasons behind it are worth pondering.

Back to the issue of Japan's discharge of nuclear contaminated water into the sea, on August 24, Yuyuantan Tian Weibo (a pseudonym for CCTV News) pointed out that in response to the so-called "false information" about the nuclear contaminated water of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on social media and other platforms, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has formulated an enhanced response and dissemination policy, with a plan amounting to about 70 billion yen. According to the report on the treatment of nuclear contaminated water released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan in February 2020, this "public relations budget" is almost 20 times the budget for the discharge of nuclear contaminated water into the sea and twice the budget for steam emissions. The Japanese government would rather spend money on public relations than adopt a less harmful nuclear contaminated water treatment solution.

Summarize

The ban of the official account of NetEase News on Bilibili is a typical case of media dishonesty and failure to fulfill its responsibilities. NetEase News has shown a position that is at odds with mainstream public opinion, contrary to national interests, and contrary to national sentiments on various major events. These problems show that NetEase News lacks an objective and fair journalistic attitude, and even deliberately spreads false and harmful information, influencing and misleading users' judgment and cognition.

As an important carrier and guide of public opinion, news media should follow the principle of objectivity and independence, and provide users with true, comprehensive, timely, accurate, fair, balanced, diverse, in-depth and warm information content. Only in this way can users' information literacy and judgment be enhanced, their sense of social responsibility and participation be improved, and social progress and civilization be promoted.

Media's breach of trust and irresponsibility will not only affect users' information acquisition and cognition, but also pose potential harm to national security and stability.

Of course, the controversial NetEase News Bilibili account dynamics were posted in the first person by the "editor", and NetEase News could have pushed the responsibility onto the editor personally and even used the usual excuses such as "temporary worker" and "forgot to close the account" to take the blame and apologize. But shouldn't NetEase News, a "crooked butt", also be regulated?

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.