Online ‘witch hunt’ sweeps up Asians misidentified as Cornell rape accused
AI generated
asserted
hunt → sweep → rape
One message told him to “go to hell.”
asserted
message → tell → hell
Others said he deserved to be imprisoned.
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he → say → ?
Death threats poured in.
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threats → pour → ?
Asians who share a name with one of the men accused of raping a US university student have faced a torrent of online abuse.
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who → share → abuse
The alleged 2024 gang rape of a Cornell University student, detailed in a recent lawsuit, has sparked an outpouring of outrage against the seven accused perpetrators.
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rape → allege → perpetrators
The case has sent internet sleuths scouring digital footprints for clues to track them down.
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case → send → them
One of the accused is a Korean man identified by US media as Winston Lee.
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One → accuse → Lee
The problem is that the world is full of people named Winston Lee.
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world → name → people
The rage misdirected at people who share that name, some of whom live outside the United States and look nothing like the accused, lays bare the perils of a chaotic internet, where people distrustful of public institutions become digital detectives.
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people → misdirect → institutions
One of those wrongly identified was a Chinese American whose LinkedIn profile identifies him as a New York-based finance professional who graduated from Cornell University in 2020 – four years before the alleged rape.
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who → identify → rape
“You can’t hide.
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You → hide → ?
Your future is over,” said one message he received via LinkedIn.
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he → say → LinkedIn
“You’ll get exactly what you deserve...which is prison!!
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which → get → what
You’ll be gang raped there.”
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You → rap → ?
Another said that a “black magic” spell had been cast upon him.
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spell → say → him
In a video on TikTok – where his bio reads “Not part of Cornell7” – he said he had hired a lawyer to press charges against a woman who posted his phone number and his parents’ address online.
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who → read → number
After a deluge of hateful messages, another man misidentified as Winston Lee posted a personal appeal to TikTok detectives.
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man → misidentifie → detectives
“I am Indonesian and not the Winston Lee named in the recent Cornell University case,” he said.
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he → name → case
“Please verify the identity of the person you are looking for before contacting, tagging, or making accusations against someone.”
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you → verify → someone
After a similar flood of messages, a Chinese-American student named Winston Lee at the University of Pennsylvania added a disclaimer to his LinkedIn profile: “I do not go to Cornell.”
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I → name → Cornell
Those appeals did not appear to slow what Reddit discussion boards described as an “online hunt” for the seven accused, drawing many users down internet rabbit holes.
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boards → appear → holes
With few verified details about the man actually accused, internet users continued searching aggressively for his whereabouts.
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users → verify → whereabouts
One Reddit post claimed Winston Lee was now serving in the South Korean army.
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Lee → claim → army
Another user on X said she had received tips suggesting Lee had been spotted on Cornell University’s campus.
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Lee → say → campus
People with names like the other six accused also complained about rage spamming and threats.
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People → accuse → spamming
“These social justice warriors are literally messaging and harassing the wrong” people, said podcast host Brad Polumbo.
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Polumbo → message → people
“These things should be litigated through the criminal process or through some sort of fair process, not through a social media mob or witch hunt.”
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things → litigate → mob
‘Hounded’
A group of former Cornell students, who belonged to the same Chi Phi fraternity as the seven accused but graduated before the alleged incident, also complained of online smear campaigns.
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who → hound → campaigns
“They are being wrongfully accused on social media of having involvement, are consequently receiving death threats and related hate mail,” their attorney Adam Ford wrote in a letter to the university that was obtained by AFP.
“Most of them have had their employers and higher education institutions take adverse actions against them, including being placed on leave.”
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employers → accuse → leave
Digital sleuths have for years misidentified accused perpetrators of high-profile shootings and other crimes, exposing them to abuse.
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sleuths → misidentifie → abuse
Such misidentification can further roil an already chaotic information ecosystem and hinder the actual investigation by generating false leads, warned Mike Rothschild, a researcher who studies conspiracy theories.
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who → roil → theories
“The wrongfully accused are often hounded,” Rothschild told AFP.
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Rothschild → accuse → AFP
“They sometimes have to go into hiding, or get death threats, or are even violently attacked themselves.
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They → have → threats
The Aporia
