Hundreds of private messages flooded into their social media accounts— attacks, threats and rumors that started out of nowhere. Their photos make the rounds on social media. Someone publishes their personal address and phone number. All their past words and deeds are put under the microscope.

They are no longer humans. They are reduced into a scapegoat, a distorted online target for lies and humiliation.

This mini-documentary follows the mental journey of four survivors of online abuse. From their experience, we learned that anyone can be a victim of online abuse, and that anyone can become an inadvertent perpetrator. We also learned how to face it head-on, how to understand it, and how to change it; we recognized the part played by indifference and possible ways out of the darkness.

For more analysis, interpretation and perception of online abuse on the Chinese Internet, please read the special report  "The Chinese Internet’s Hidden Victims: Uncovering and Healing the Scars of Online Abuse".