Keyboard warrior

jiànpán xiá 键盘侠

Keyboard Man's commitment to justice remains dormant until behind a computer screen. (Artist: Rebel Pepper)

Pejorative term for people who are quick to fight for justice on the Internet without displaying the same commitment in the real world.

The term "keyboard warrior" gained currency after it was used in a commentary by the People's Daily following the fatal beating of a woman at a McDonald's franchise in Zhaoyuan, Shandong. On May 28, 2014, six members of the Church of Almighty God (Quánnéng Shén Jiàohuì 全能神教会), a fringe apocalyptic religious group officially described as an "evil cult," beat a woman to death after she was unresponsive to a recruitment attempt. Video of the attack and images of the woman’s body surfaced online, stirring debate about whether fellow restaurant patrons or staff should have intervened. This sparked comparisons to the 2011 death of “Little Yueyue,” a toddler who was run over and ignored by scores of pedestrians before an elderly woman finally came to her rescue. On June 4, People's Daily published an editorial titled "Urging the Courageous Against Being 'Keyboard Warriors'" (《激励见义勇为不能靠“键盘侠”》） :

Society's biggest flaw is having people with double standards一saying to others "how can you do nothing," while saying to oneself, "if I do something, what will it cost me?" This is precisely the case with those "keyboard warriors," who do nothing if physically encountering something, but are filled with righteous indignation online. This does not help in the development of a healthy society, nor does it help to counter the dilemma of "seeing justice but doing nothing," and it makes it even more difficult to collectively fight crime."

个社会最大的忌讳，就是有人设置出两套道德标准——一套用在别人身上，“你怎么能不管？”另一套用在自己身上，“我管了会不会有代价？”就像有人在网上讽刺的“键盘侠”一样，遇事置身事外，网上义愤填膺，这种“分裂”，无助于健康社会风气的养成，也无助于走出“见义不为”的困局，更难以形成集体震慑不法的力量。