THEY ARE known as the vigilantes of the internet, a group of citizens who prowl the "human flesh" search engine, either sticking their noses into other people's business or righting wrongs using people power, depending on your perspective.
Yesterday, a Chinese court ordered an internet user and a website to compensate a man who became the victim of an online witch hunt after his wife killed herself over his alleged infidelity.
It is the first online harassment case in China relating to the "renrou", or human flesh, search engine. This is a group of enraged webizens who dig out facts and expose those whose behaviour is deemed wanting. People have found their name, birthday, mobile phone number and home address researched and exposed, available for 290 million webizens to see.
Wang Fei lost his job and was harassed by strangers after his infidelity was detailed online. His late wife Jiang's university classmate, Zhang Leyi, posted online diary excerpts which the dead woman wrote months before her suicide.
Mr Zhang said he wanted to "commemorate Jiang's death and help bring her justice". Mr Wang was forced to resign after complete strangers began calling the international advertising agency where he and his girlfriend worked. Obscene slogans were also painted on his parents' door.
"As Zhang was spreading the details of the affair, he also gave out details of Wang's real name, name of his company and even family addresses, which infringed the plaintiff's privacy rights," the judge said.
Mr Zhang was ordered to pay Mr Wang 5,000 yuan (€400) and the Beijing Lingyun Interactive Information and Technology Company was ordered to pay 3,000 yuan (€300).
China's webizens have claimed some high-profile scalps over the years using internet vigilantism. Last month, China's transport ministry fired an official for manhandling an 11-year-old girl at a local restaurant, after webizens posted images and his personal details online.
Such vigilantism started innocently enough in 2001 when a young man posted a picture of a woman he said was his girlfriend online. Other webizens discovered the woman was a Microsoft model, and the man was shamed online.
The human flesh search engine became a huge national phenomenon in February 2006 when a video showing a woman in high heels crushing a kitten to death caused widespread outrage.
People analysed the background in the video and soon tracked it to Heilongjiang province in the northeast. Within a week the woman involved in the bizarre and grotesque video - a 41-year-old nurse - had lost her job.
The human flesh search engine is hugely popular, although most believe it needs to be better regulated, and it angers those keen to have better rule of law in China, who say the phenomenon highlights the weakness of China's privacy laws.