Are drivers using Didi to commit sex crimes?

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The recent rape and murder of a female flight attendant by a driver for Didi Chuxing has raised concerns over the safety of female passengers using the online car-hailing platform.

Media coverage of the case has largely focused on the grisly details or systemic issues that allowed the suspect to use his father's account. But the Chinese public has raised another question: What role should the tech giant play in ensuring its users don’t exploit the app for sexual perversion?

While using Didi's carpooling service to go downtown, the 21-year-old flight attendant texted her friend to say that the driver was making sexually suggestive comments. When the police found her body, she was half-naked and had suffered from multiple stab wounds.

The search for the suspect dominated headlines until authorities fished his body out of a nearby river.

Back in 2016, a female teacher was murdered in south China’s Shenzhen while using the same carpooling service.

The question of why these incidents involved Hitch – only one of Didi's 13 services – began circulating on Chinese social media, with users on Weibo circulating a screenshot showing the types of sexually-charged comments drivers are leaving for passengers.

Rather than comments on a passenger's punctuality or related behavior, many of the drivers left ratings based on the passenger's appearance. Targeted toward women, the ratings included comments such as looked “pretty even without makeup,” and included tags with descriptions such as “beauty is off the charts.”

One comment reviewing a passenger says, “I could see the beautiful lady exposing herself through her silk stockings when she gets out of the car; makes me want to fantasize about it.” /Screenshot posted by @liangxinpingce via Weibo

The image sparked a flurry of comments, with many saying that they weren’t even aware that drivers had access to such detailed comments about them.

“I didn’t even know about this [function], probably because I don’t hail rides that often,” said @qiaoluwei. /Screenshot from Weibo

Although passengers can access the comment history from their drivers, they can only do so after going through several steps.

The surprise for many riders may stem from the different expectations that drivers and passengers have for Hitch. While some riders have remarked that they use it because it's cheaper than Didi’s alternatives, some drivers could be using it with the expectation of meeting people – and even sparking romance – all messages that have been a part of Didi's marketing.

August 20, 2015: Post from official Weibo page of Didi's Hitch says, “#Carpool to meet people# Live from the third stop in Chengdu city. Can’t believe that my first carpooling trip could result in such a romantic encounter. One really must take the first step to achieve happiness. Single people, you won’t find happiness just standing around. Come take Didi’s Hitch to find your happiness.” /Screenshot from Weibo

“Personally speaking, Didi didn’t strictly separate its carpooling service from its online car-hailing service,” said Chen Jiakang, a lawyer based in Shanghai. Chen told CGTN Digital that carpooling has a social connotation where residents – such as neighbors or colleagues – would assist one another, an act that was originally devoid of commercial incentives. But when one has to pay to carpool, the distinction between social and commercial endeavors begins to blur.

To protect passengers, Chen suggested that Didi clearly let them know that their apps have a social feature that allows drivers to rate and leave comments about them, as well as give them the option to withhold private information.

In a press statement emailed to CGTN Digital, Didi said that it offers “sincere condolences and apologies to the family of Ms. Li (the victim). We need to step up to win the trust of our users.”

Didi also acknowledged that before the incident, its customer service had tried to reach the now deceased driver after someone filed a complaint of verbal sexual harassment against him, but “due to the imperfection of the arbitration rules of the platform, the complaint was not handled properly in subsequent days.”

The company announced that it will suspend its Hitch service for a week starting May 12 for “self-inspection and rectification measures.”

As to what steps China's largest car-hailing service and one of the world's most valuable startups is taking to address the platform’s safety issues, passengers and drivers alike will have to wait and see.

(Wang Xiaonan conducted the interview for this story. Chen Jiakang’s views in this article do not represent those of his firm.)