Some Thoughts Regarding Negative Online Comments About Falun Dafa and Shen Yun

(Minghui.org) I recently read a comment from a young practitioner on the increase in negative comments online about Falun Dafa and Shen Yun. The practitioner mentioned getting into circular or inconclusive arguments on Reddit and asked for advice on how to handle the increase in the hate we see online. I’d like to share my thoughts.

We know the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has its “50-cent army.” There are many chatbots, and the Internet is increasingly filled with AI-generated content. Some businesses create and sell organic-looking social media accounts, but you really have no idea who or what you are interacting with. So, I would first consider the value of your time and energy.

Regarding the young practitioner’s inconclusive debates, I remember reading a recent Minghui article about a practitioner in China whose son did not like Dafa. Paraphrasing from memory, when she stayed with her daughter-in-law she tried to clarify the truth and gave her daughter-in-law a lot of information. She was later scolded by her son. She realized that she wished to resolve things quickly. Because she worked hard to have good relations with her son and his wife, she helped them and did many household chores. They saw that Falun Dafa practitioners were kind and good. 

Maybe it’s not so important for these arguments to be conclusive. Maybe it’s a chance to reflect on our competitive mentality and our need to win. If you want to clarify the facts, maybe it’s better just to make a small post for other users and move on.

These social media platforms are not courts of law or systems of fact finding. Most of them encourage a mob mentality. Reddit in particular is susceptible to this because of its upvote system. There are many subreddits completely unrelated to China where the moderators are co-opted by the CCP. Any posts that are critical of the CCP are removed, while posts showing how modern and advanced China is are promoted. 

These days, the Internet and especially social media are not level playing fields. This is all part of the CCP’s united front campaign to co-opt social media and the news. They treat eliminating Falun Dafa as a battle. From this perspective, a wise general would know which fronts to advance, which ones to hold, and which to retreat from.

In the past few days, many American users left TikTok because of a possible TikTok shutdown and moved to the Chinese app RedNote, or Xiaohongshu (literally translated as Little Red Book). It’s a bit ironic because these users complain about censorship and the U.S. government banning TikTok, but then moved to a CCP-run app. There are some amusing posts of users then getting banned from RedNote and learning all the things they can’t talk about. There are also some American users who see posts on RedNote and want to move to China. 

The truth is that many heavy users of social media in the U.S. have anti-U.S. sentiment. What they don’t know is that what they see on Chinese social media usually comes from the upper economic classes of China and does not reflect the reality of most Chinese citizens’ lives.

They are all sentient beings, and my understanding is that as Dafa practitioners, it’s not our role to judge anyone—instead we must have compassion for all beings. I wish to help explain why arguing on social media isn’t very effective. You can’t teach someone who does not want to learn. You can’t explain something to someone who does not want to listen.

The recent attacks in the media quote Master when he said that Shen Yun performances cannot be cheap because that would not conform to the principles of ordinary society. They imply that this means Master is after money. But if you think about it, Master is right.

There are many videos online of world-class musicians who disguise themselves and perform freely in the street but are ignored by people passing by. For many people, a higher price is an indicator of higher value and quality. People who go to Shen Yun are there because they want to see the show.

If the person you are arguing with is not seeking the truth, aren’t you wasting your time? Let’s take a look at the various projects started by Dafa practitioners.

Most people I know don’t trust the legacy media these days. People want unbiased news media that just presents the facts without some hidden agenda behind it. The Epoch Times is upfront about why it was created, and provides factual coverage about events in China that no other media is able to. Its articles are also straightforward and factual. It filled a void in the market and as a result, the paper has grown rapidly and has been an effective way to clarify the truth.

This is the American system and how things are done in a free society. It is a manifestation of universal principles at this level. No loss, no gain. In order to create wealth and garner attention, one must work hard to create and do things that benefit others.

Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company. There are many people, especially from society’s educated and upper classes, who immerse themselves in the arts and traditional culture. Because of the CCP’s destruction of Chinese culture, there was a void in the market for genuine Chinese culture. Shen Yun’s excellence and technical mastery have turned it into a global sensation—and it is able to clarify the truth about the persecution through the universal language of song and dance. Even those who do not recognize the positive spiritual message of the show acknowledge the excellence of the performers.

These days, many people don’t read the news themselves or attend high-end performances—instead they get their information from social media. However, social media is engineered to be addictive and is filled with “brain rot,” money worship, and either borderline or outright pornography. Many people recognize the issue, but feel helpless and that there aren’t any viable alternatives. Parents especially worry about the effect of social media on their children. If Gan Jing World is able to fill this void, then it can also be a very powerful method of truth clarification with perhaps the widest reach.

You don’t have to join these projects in order to clarify the truth, although all these projects do need our support. My point is that these projects demonstrate how to be effective at truth clarification.

When the opportunity presents itself and someone is willing to listen and learn, we should clearly present the facts. If there is a misunderstanding, we can make good arguments, but we should not argue endlessly, especially if we are personally affected and have a competitive attachment to winning. But otherwise, in our personal lives, people will judge Dafa by our compassion and our cultivation state. Although it is not Falun Dafa’s goal, people will judge Dafa by what we create and our contributions to society.