In the past two years, four women have been killed by drivers for the popular Chinese ride-hailing app Didi. Users have had enough.
Users of China’s top rideshare app, Didi Chuxing, are deleting it en masse after one of its drivers raped and murdered a young female passenger. The hashtag #BoycottDidi on Weibo has garnered more than 1 million views as public furor grows over the latest in Didi’s crises.
Over the weekend, the driver confessed to local police to raping and stabbing his 20-year-old passenger on her way to a friend’s birthday party. The murder is the second in three months—this May, a young flight attendant was killed by her Didi driver. It is the third in a year—last May, according to Caixin Global, another woman was strangled and killed by her driver. And it is the fourth in two years—the year before that, a female teacher was robbed and killed after threats from her driver.
“As a platform, we have disappointed the public’s trust in us and cannot shirk this responsibility,” Didi said in a statement, admitting to failing to react quickly to another passenger’s complaint filed against the driver the day before the murder. The rideshare company has suspended its Hitch services (as it did after the last murder) and fired two senior executives, one in charge of Hitch, its intercity carpooling service, and the other in charge of customer service. The Didi president, Jean Liu, oft-regarded as a hero for Chinese women in business, issued an apology on Tuesday. China’s government is now cracking down on reform across the transportation sector.
A sort of citizens’ court went into session on Weibo. The victim’s friend accusedDidi of delaying its intervention after she’d contacted the service. Another woman came forward claiming prior harassment by the same driver, stating that Didi didn’t respond to her complaints. Local police published their report of the case on their official account. Reviewing these pieces of evidence, many users have decided Didi is guilty, and a boycott is the penalty.
“Some might say there are just a few bad drivers, but Didi has given these criminals a platform,” wrote one user on Weibo. “I hope everyone boycotts Didi together.” The actress Xiaochen Wang posted a screenshot of her deleting Didi’s app, with the caption “Bye!” to more than 9 million followers. Hundreds of thousands of fans liked or commented on the post in support, many of them sharing their own screenshots. As of Monday, the top trending topic on Weibo was “sue Didi.” Four out of Weibo’s top 10 trending topics related to Didi.
Source : The Atlantic
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