An investigation on the rights of truck drivers in China and the role of social media platforms in social monitoring through Jin De Qiang's suicide

The suicide of the truck driver Jin De Qiang in 2021 following a penalty for Beidou navigation disconnection sparked widespread public discussion on social media. This study analyses a selection of Sina Weibo posts collected in a dataset organised by Fu et al. [1] regarding Jin's incidence to examine public attitudes and their emotional tendencies towards this societal event. Bar graphs were used to assess relationships between multiple aspects of language choice and public attitudes, while word clouds were constructed for word frequency. The results suggest that overall the public was critical of the rigid Beidou policies and was sympathetic towards Jin. Such voices on social media platforms demonstrates their increasingly pivotal role as a channel for public expression, reflecting their opinions and acting as a platform of social monitoring. In addition, this study uses Jin's incidence as a case to discuss working conditions of logistics workers in China overall. Their systemic societal vulnerability, including physical, psychological, and financial vulnerability was highlighted and analysed, while also referencing to recent changes that demonstrates or may lead to an improvement of their working conditions.