Internet ‘detectives’ hunt Cornell rape suspects — and target the wrong people
WASHINGTON, Oct 15 — One message told him to “go to hell.” Others said he deserved to be imprisoned. D...
One man received death threats and was told he deserved to be imprisoned over social media after being wrongly identified as one of the accused in a 2024 Cornell University gang rape case. The alleged incident involved seven perpetrators and has drawn an outpouring of outrage from the public. However, the internet sleuths scouring digital footprints for clues to track them down have misidentified several people who share the name Winston Lee.
These innocent individuals, who live outside the US and look nothing like the accused, are facing a torrent of online abuse and threats. This case highlights the perils of a chaotic internet where distrust of public institutions leads to a witch hunt mentality. A Chinese-American student at the University of Pennsylvania who was also misidentified issued a plea to "digital detectives" to verify identities before making accusations.
Experts warn that such false accusations can lead to severe consequences for the wrongly accused, including hounding, death threats, and even violent attacks.
Written by urgent.news from Malay Mail's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
