Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 564 The Devil's Box
When Lin Ge snatched the phone, it seemed that he accidentally touched something and the screen went black.

Faced with the questioning looks from Nie Guoqiang and Zheng Mingxing, Lin Ge could only turn around speechlessly and signal to Lin Jia, that silly girl, to hurry up. She was the one who ran over to warn them, so why was she taking so long?

"I... I'm nowhere near as fast as you."

Lin Jia pouted, feeling wronged, but still managed to stand up, supporting herself on her knees. She went into the office, turned her phone back on, and placed it in front of the two police officers. She then carefully recounted everything she knew in detail.

"Hiss... slandering classmates and their parents in a student group?"

Zheng Mingxing gasped.

Are all kids these days so fierce?
Not only did they spread malicious rumors to slander an innocent classmate, but they even exposed the classmate's personal and family information? This is a case of trying to completely ruin someone's reputation. Where did such a young person get such ruthless methods?
If this kind of thing isn't handled properly, it can lead to a flood of rumors and complete disgrace.

"I remember there's a saying online about this kind of thing, something like... opening the box, right?"

Nie Guoqiang pondered for a moment, then suddenly looked up at Lin Jia calmly and said, "Jiang Yan mentioned to me that these kinds of things on the internet seem to be getting more and more rampant and unscrupulous. First, write a short essay to smear someone, then post it online to gain sympathy, and incite public opinion to persuade uninformed people to take her side? Once the matter has escalated, then expose the other party's personal privacy information and even family information, and then fabricate some things to portray the other party and even their entire family as morally corrupt or even criminals, so that uninformed people can stand on the moral high ground to attack the target? Tsk! This is illegal!"

"Shouldn't this fall under the category of cyberbullying? Crimes of infringing on citizens' personal information, plus insult and defamation? In more serious cases, it could even involve provoking trouble? But opening the box... why is it called opening the box?"

Zheng Mingxing felt that he was not that old, so why did he feel that he was out of touch with people's ideas nowadays?
In the past, people who did such bad things would at most write a short essay, but now it has actually escalated to the point of ruining a person's entire family?

"..."

Lin Jia blinked her eyes blankly.

"Oh! I found it! 'Opening the box' refers to the suspect stealing other people's information and then randomly distributing it online. Once each piece of personal information is opened like a Pandora's box, it leads to cyberbullying. Coupled with incitement to spread rumors and other methods, they use netizens to launch a series of attacks and insults against others. Hmm... that's ruthless!"

Nie Guoqiang raised an eyebrow when he searched for the Baidu definition of "opening the box" on his phone.

As a police officer, he could guess just how ruthless this behavior was simply by looking at the definition.

Throughout history, rumors and slander have been deadly and invisible. Now, criminals are connecting rumors with the internet, turning what used to be small-scale rumor-mongering into a fierce, unlimited-distance operation.

In other words, with premeditation, one person can single-handedly incite the emotions of billions of people across the country or even the world! Faced with such a terrifying number of questions and insults, coupled with the dark and unscrupulous media stirring up trouble for sensationalism, it is virtually impossible for the victim to clear their name.

Furthermore, due to the unlimited speed of information dissemination and economic benefits of the internet, the matter can be exposed again and again at any time. In such cases, if the defamation is not handled properly even once, or if the perpetrator is misled by unscrupulous media, or if the perpetrator lacks the financial resources and energy to fight back, then the hard-won innocence will fall back into the mire.

"So cruel!"

Zheng Mingxing shuddered.

After hearing Nie Guoqiang's detailed speculation, Lin Jia's eyes instantly welled up with tears.

Even Lin Ge couldn't help but gasp, completely unprepared for the situation to be far more complicated than he had imagined. He had initially thought that as long as the police station promptly arrested the rumor-mongers and stopped the spread of the rumors, things would calm down, but now it seemed…

"Old Nie, this is going to be difficult!"

After calming down, Zheng Mingxing frowned and said to Nie Guoqiang, "It's easy to spread rumors, but it takes a lot of effort to refute them. This has been true since ancient times. Even if the police station issues a public statement, Chen Dan and her family will probably be unable to make a living in Zhang City. Public criticism can kill; no one can ignore insults. Moreover, rumors will only become more and more outrageous, and with personal information exposed, it will also endanger their personal safety..."

"More importantly, according to her, the person spreading the rumors is a minor and cannot bear criminal responsibility."

Nie Guoqiang sighed.

"What a joke! Doesn't that mean there's absolutely no way to stop these kinds of people from framing others? They can spread rumors and slander with impunity, even resorting to malicious insults that cross all lines, and the law can't do anything about them?"

Lin Ge's eyes widened.

Lin Jia covered her mouth, never expecting that even the most formidable police officers in her mind would be helpless in this matter. What did they just say? That her personal safety would be endangered? Did that mean someone knew Chen Dan's home address and would try to harm her?
In an instant, tears streamed down Lin Jia's face uncontrollably.

You scared that child!

Zheng Mingxing rolled his eyes at Nie Guoqiang, then smiled and handed a peach to Lin Jia.

"Little sister, don't worry, have a peach to calm down. You have to trust us police officers, we'll handle this for you."

"really?"

Lin Jia remained skeptical, mainly because what the two people had just said was truly terrifying. Thinking back to Hao Junwen asking her for Chen Dan's home phone number yesterday, Lin Jia suddenly felt a wave of malice wash over her.

"Sun Chang, come to my office with Zhang Ke."

Nie Guoqiang quickly selected the right person to handle the case.

Despite the egregious nature of the case, it's not something that can be solved simply by having a large police force. All its actions and developments occur online, and no amount of police can control online rumors. The local police station can only arrest those involved and release the facts—nothing more. Anything else must be left to the internet monitoring department, and incidentally, requesting the National Internet Information Center to guide and control the development of the incident.

"Boss Nie! Instructor Zheng!"

"Director Nie! Instructor Zheng!"

Zhang Ke and Sun Chang quickly came over, bowed to Nie Guoqiang and Zheng Mingxing, and then looked at the crying kid in the office and their own cat with a puzzled expression.

The difference in their words made Zheng Mingxing smile wryly, but he still quickly explained the situation to them.

The most important thing right now is to stop the suspect from spreading the message online. Once the source is cut off, other rumors will naturally disappear slowly. This slow process may take days, months, or even years, but ultimately the police cannot control the memory of netizens. Right now, they can only do their best to control the spread of rumors and protect the personal safety and reputation of the victims and their families as much as possible.

"This is outrageous! What was she thinking, destroying a family with a few simple words? What is this? Is this murder without leaving a trace? If everyone does this, where will murderers come from? Destroying someone with a box is enough, and they don't even have to bear much responsibility!"

Sun Chang stomped his feet in anger.

"Who said you're not responsible? Did you learn criminal law for nothing?"

Zheng Mingxing glared at Sun Chang, then said seriously, "This kind of thing involves the crimes of infringing on citizens' personal information, insult and defamation. The rumors are malicious and serious, and also involve provoking trouble. Which of these isn't a crime? Moreover, even if the perpetrator is a minor, they are only exempt from criminal liability. They still need to bear civil and administrative responsibilities! Even her guardian will have to bear the responsibility for inadequate guardianship, plus the economic compensation that needs to be paid to the other party based on the degree of harm caused by opening the box. I want to see how many millionaires and multi-millionaires can withstand how many economic penalties and civil compensations they can endure!"

"Ha ha……"

Zhang Ke chuckled dryly, thinking that Zheng Mingxing's words were only meant to intimidate ordinary people. He only hoped that the wealthy in China would not use such tactics in business warfare.

"In short, the case isn't complicated, but handling it well won't be easy. You two go to the school first and find out if it was this student named Jia Wanlin who did it. If it was her, take her into custody immediately and notify her parents," Nie Guoqiang ordered.

Sun Chang and Zhang Ke understood the seriousness of the matter, nodded, and hurriedly left.

Nie Guoqiang then gestured for Lin Ge to take Lin Jia away, and then slowly finished eating a peach in the office before letting out a deep sigh.

"This is not a good matter."

Zheng Mingxing knew Nie Guoqiang's thoughts best; as an instructor himself, he understood the destructive power of words and rumors. Seeing that Nie Guoqiang hadn't mentioned the victim at all, he knew Nie Guoqiang must have other plans in mind.

"Instructor!"

Nie Guoqiang leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

After a long pause, he muttered to himself, "The most serious harm caused by this kind of thing is not actually to the victims themselves, but to social credibility and the moral compass of netizens! If the internet allows netizens to lose their restraint, then the demon called 'opening boxes' will make all netizens lose their sense of security and their ability to distinguish right from wrong. When lies spread across the internet, and netizens are exposed to nothing but hypocrisy, how terrible will this world become?"

"..."

Zheng Mingxing fell silent, taking a peach and slowly munching on it. He knew what Nie Guoqiang meant by calling him "instructor" earlier; there was no doubt that this matter involved a serious problem with the education and guidance provided to netizens.

"And I also thought of another terrible thing."

Opening his eyes, Nie Guoqiang sat up straight, staring intently at Zheng Mingxing, and said, “The victim is innocent, and we certainly want to help restore the victim's reputation. But if this happens once, twice, three times, or four times, and the unpacking of the box escalates, and netizens gradually become skeptical of our announcements, then it won't just be a matter of social credibility, but rather the credibility of the government, and the level of trust netizens have in our police force… all of that will be seriously compromised! When people see news or these kinds of rumors online, their first reaction is to question them; do you think that even if we help restore the victim's reputation online, netizens will still question the correctness and fairness of the police announcements?”

"Alas! When ordinary people lose trust in the police because of things that happen online, or when they begin to doubt the fairness and impartiality of police enforcement, this kind of thing could become a disaster for the country's judicial system and order..."

Zheng Mingxing sighed and finished what Nie Guoqiang wanted to say.

Seeing Nie Guoqiang nod slowly with a serious expression, Zheng Mingxing couldn't help but say, "Old Nie, it's not that serious! You have to believe that the country can't let this kind of thing continue to cause destruction with impunity. It's not just you and me who are worried about this; the public security, procuratorate, and judicial organs at the higher levels can't remain indifferent to such heinous and destructive crimes. It's only a matter of time before relevant laws or guidelines are introduced. Until then, we just need to do our best to maintain network and social order, control the network problems in Zhangzhou to the best of our ability, protect the victims of the online box attacks, and have a clear conscience—that's enough!"

"That's really what the instructor said! But we have to admit, this is really all we can do. It's already quite a feat to protect our own little corner of the land."

Nie Guoqiang suddenly felt a pang of regret. When the internet shortens the distance between people, there's really not much a local police station can do. It only takes a second to harm someone online, but for the police to investigate, they have to travel thousands of miles.

In addition, the cost of handling cases is also a major obstacle for the police in dealing with cases involving unpacked boxes.

Spreading rumors online costs nothing, but solving a case and even eliminating all rumors and malicious comments about it online would be a cost that a police station simply cannot afford.

"We need our own cyber police! We need our own cyber security management department!"

Nie Guoqiang suddenly raised his head.

"what?"

Zheng Mingxing was taken aback. Why did they suddenly start talking about adding departments to the police station?
It's not a problem for a police station to hire one or two cyber police officers. Longquan Police Station already has such personnel, and they even created a promotional online identity to enhance the station's visibility.

However, the cybersecurity management department...

Nie Guoqiang, do you want to listen to what you're saying? How can one or two people operate these newly added units called 'departments'?
And do you know how many professionals, how much specialized equipment, and how much cost it takes to set up such a professional cyber police team?

You just set up a criminal investigation team in the police station, secretly trying to steal jobs from the municipal bureau. And now, less than six months later, you're already eyeing the internet surveillance department?

So greedy!

Nie Guoqiang, Yu Zhengwei will kill you!
Several branch captains from the municipal bureau will also try every means to kill you!

“There will only be more and more cases like this in the future. In addition, there are online fraud, online pornography and drug-related crimes. We need more professionals in this field! If we don’t prepare in advance now, are we going to wait until the case occurs and we are helpless before we can take remedial measures?”

Nie Guoqiang is a man of action; once he sets his mind on something, he doesn't intend to change it, nor does he intend to give up what he wants.

An unboxing incident, the full extent of which is currently unknown, has already given him a glimpse into the potential future challenges facing the police station. Therefore, he's taking preemptive action, deciding to first establish the necessary departments.

"Forget it! No matter how much I tell you, it won't change your mind. Let's give it a try! But Lao Nie, it's not easy to recruit professional cyber police! We don't need a mediocre person, but a powerful force that covers the internet in Zhangzhou."

Zheng Mingxing eventually gave in.

Although he felt this would be extremely troublesome and a lot of hardship, Nie Guoqiang had already made up his mind. As the instructor of Zhanghe Police Station, he could only follow along!
Meanwhile, Lin Ge, Sun Chang, Zhang Ke, and Lin Jia, who rushed to Youcheng Middle School, had already witnessed the panic among the students.

It was already class time, but almost every classroom was far from quiet. The teacher stood at the podium looking distracted, while the students below chattered amongst themselves.

Some students treated it as a joke or a topic of conversation, while others discussed with amusement whether the rumors were true or false, whether the person in the rumors, Chen Dan, was as bad as described above, and whether her parents were as dirty and disgusting as written in the group chat.

Although the teacher on the podium tried her best to maintain order in the classroom, she herself was not able to remain calm. As adults, they were well aware of the power of rumors, but they never expected such a thing to appear in the peaceful campus.

If we can open the boxes for other students or even their parents today, will we be able to open the boxes for the teachers tomorrow?
There are no saints in this world; everyone makes mistakes, and everyone might need to win favors or pull strings. Even if these things are commonplace, opening a box still brings with it rumors and slander based on dubious evidence!

Which teacher could bear this?

A teacher whose reputation is ruined is essentially finished for life! Not only will they have to leave the education profession, but their reputation is also destined to become a pile of dog shit.

Because any teacher could be the target of rumors about an inappropriate relationship with a student! Or rather, throughout history, every educator who has been slandered has always been associated with immoral relationships with students in the rumors.

Who the hell isn't afraid of something like this?!

Lin Jia sneaked back to her classroom, while Lin Ge, Zhang Ke, and Sun Chang went to the principal's office.

This matter can no longer be handled by the head of the teaching department alone; the school principal absolutely cannot and should not evade the responsibility of dealing with it.

Then, at the entrance to the principal's office, the group saw that a large number of people had already crowded inside.

The group was mostly composed of teachers, and their discussion revolved entirely around the sudden incident of the "boxing" incident in the school's class group chat. Some suggested expelling the students involved, others urged a swift clarification, and still others reiterated the rule against bringing cell phones to school and that the "boxing" incident outside of school was unrelated to the school. The female principal, surrounded by the teachers, remained expressionless throughout, seemingly oblivious to their opinions and offering no response whatsoever.

(End of this chapter)