The advent of the novel coronavirus outbreak has created another breeding ground for conflict aside from the illness itself – social media. The spread of misinformation and the war of words occurring online is not conducive to the transnational cooperation that is necessary to alleviate this crisis.

Weibo used to be the only place to find vibrant sources of debate in China. But in recent years, Weibo has become the platform of choice for nationalism, xenophobia and racism. Today, Weibo users have two labels for those they consider to be in the habit of lecturing them on “political correctness”— the “public intellectual” and the “saint bitch.” The invention of these two terms speaks volumes about the evolution of discourse on Chinese social media in recent years.