Gan Jing World, a new online platform based in New York, was attacked by hackers from the Chinese communist regime while airing a livestream of a Falun Gong parade. The hackers tried to spread hate messages against the spiritual practice.
Falun Gong practitioners held a rally and parade to commemorate the 24th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of the faith in the District of Columbia, on July 20. NTDTV broadcasted the parade live on the Gan Jing World video-sharing platform. Gan Jing in Chinese means clean.
Malicious comments flooded the chat room of NTDTV. The comment sections of several commentators’ channels on Gan Jing World were attacked by hundreds of accounts at the same time with malicious messages targeting Falun Gong.
Falun Gong is a traditional spiritual practice based on the principles of truth, compassion, and forbearance. Its 100 million adherents in China have been brutally persecuted by the Chinese regime since former CCP leader Jiang Zemin launched a campaign to eradicate it in 1999.
On July 20, the U.S. State Department issued a statement reaffirming the U.S. commitment to support Falun Gong practitioners’ freedom of belief. U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Rashad Hussain called on the CCP to end the 24-year persecution of Falun Gong practitioners on Twitter. The U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China also issued a statement condemning the CCP’s “most appalling human rights abuses” and urging the Chinese authorities to unconditionally release all detained Falun Gong practitioners.
Headquartered in Middletown, New York, Gan Jing World is a new generation of online information and video-sharing platform. According to its website, the platform uses the latest streaming and cloud technologies to create a vibrant online community and provide healthy and positive content. It enables people to restore tradition and regain morality. The platform focuses on the protection of customer privacy and is currently one of the fastest-growing online platforms.
Hate Speech Against Falun Gong
According to Gan Jing World’s technicians, the malicious messages that appeared on the platform on July 20 were all in Chinese, with an average of no more than 30 characters. Hundreds of accounts basically copied the same messages which were slander, abuse, and insults against Falun Gong. The messages used homonyms, specific references, etc., with obvious characteristics of malicious comments.
Almost all of the hundreds of user accounts that posted the abuse had registered in a short period of time and didn’t have any messages or posts other than the above-mentioned hate messages. Technicians said that the content of the messages was basically a copy of the same few sentences, and it was determined that they were sock puppets or robot accounts.
Nick Janicki, a spokesman for Gan Jing World, told The Epoch Times that besides the malicious comments, the hackers set up some accounts specifically to upload videos and propaganda that slander and vilify Falun Gong. In addition to NTDTV’s live broadcast of the Falun Gong parade, the other programs that were targeted with malicious comments were mainly some well-known Chinese current affairs commentators, especially those who have exposed the CCP’s crime of forced live organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners. The malicious comments and the channels that were attacked were all in Chinese, he added.
Mr. Janiki said that Gan Jing World is investigating the source of this attack and will also address accounts that spread hate and malicious content in accordance with the platform’s community guidelines.
This incident follows the U.S. government, Western intelligence agencies, and cybersecurity organizations accusing the CCP of conducting coordinated cyber attacks around the world, targeting governmental and military organizations, corporations, and media groups.
Export Persecution
Regarding the CCP’s online attack on the live-streaming of the Falun Gong parade, U.S.-based current affairs commentator Heng He said whenever the CCP launches this kind of attack, it is actually revealing its evil nature.
The CCP doesn’t abide by international rules he said, adding, “Its nature is to break international rules. This kind of cyber troll attack, just like the long-arm jurisdiction it uses, actually has a strong political purpose, aiming to extend its persecution of Falun Gong, freedom of religious belief, and human rights to other countries.”
Mr. Heng noted that, despite 24 years of persecution in China, Falun Gong has been well-received in countries all over the world outside of China, and the CCP is powerless to stop Falun Gong.
“People in many countries and regions have long recognized it, and the U.S. government has supported Falun Gong against the persecution. For the CCP, it feels very helpless.”
Lin Nan contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times
