Meaning of human-flesh search | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Research at an Internet forum where questions may be posed for other people to answer.
2. Vigilante justice where Internet users collaborate to find people and punish them by public exposure, harassment, or intimidation.

Examples

“3 March 2010, The New York Times, China's Cyberposse Mop had a forum called human-flesh search engine, where users could pose questions about entertainment trivia that other users would answer: a type of crowd-sourcing.”

“3 March 2010, The New York Times, China's Cyberposse Human-flesh search engines — renrou sousuo yinqing — have become a Chinese phenomenon: they are a form of online vigilante justice in which Internet users hunt down and punish people who have attracted their wrath.”

CEFR level