On the evening of September 11, an obituary pressed the mute button to all the noise on social media. Yu Menglong's studio released a message saying: Actor Yu Menglong fell from the building that day and died at the age of 37; after working in the police, criminal suspicion has been ruled out. The message is short but clear, like a bell on an autumn night, with sadness all in the lingering sound.

Subsequently, many media made basic restoration of the incident, sorted out the timeline of "falling from the building - on-site handling - police investigation", and interviewed the property of the community involved, confirming that there was indeed a police incident that night when the building fell. Compared with the earlier rumors on the Internet, these are the facts that can be implemented steadily. Regarding the two most concerned issues of the public - "whether homicide" and "whether there is third-party responsibility" - as of now, the public information is still at the node of "excluding criminal suspicion" and there is no further disclosure.

It is worth noting that the platform handles the rumors very quickly. Starting from the afternoon of the 11th, the short video platform has concentrated on cleaning up related false content, involving more than a thousand illegal videos; at the same time, it has imposed penalties on accounts that took the opportunity to fabricate conspiracy theories. This is not only the most basic respect for the deceased, but also a necessary maintenance of public space.

The public opinion field has never lacked "imagination". From "who is the one who is at the dinner party" to "details of physical evidence on the spot", various "inside stories" are coming - among them, there are accidental injuries that push innocent people to the forefront. For example, there was a rumor that a director was accused of "the person on site", and the person involved later publicly denied that he had never met Mr. Yu before and made clarification on the identification of the rumored pictures. This short episode reminds us: when the crowd runs, the truth is often slow.

In cross-language media, relevant news has also been reported, but the details are not consistent - this further reminds us that when the facts are still in the "to be completed", the most reliable one is still from the opinions of the parties and local authoritative media.

Confirmable and yet to be clarified

From the public information, there are only three points that can be confirmed at this stage:
1) Time and result: On September 11, Yu Menglong unfortunately fell from the building and died;
2) Authoritative conclusion: The police "exclude criminal suspicion";
3) Platform action: deal with and refute a large amount of false content.

In addition, there are still details that can be verified through authoritative channels and can be repeatedly verified. If the public wants to continue asking questions, they should wait for further explanation from the police, their families and studios.

Three bottom lines for public opinion response

First, restrain your imagination. The "window period" after the incident is most likely to be filled with emotions and speculation. Taking unproven details as "iron evidence" is not only a secondary harm to the deceased and his family, but also consuming the trust capital of public discussion.

Second, respect privacy. Public figures do not equal "public property". In the last journey of life, one should have decent and quiet. Media communication needs to have a conscious floodgate between the "public right to know" and the "individual privacy right".

Third, wait for the conclusion. Of course we hope to know "why" as soon as possible, but it is often difficult to get both "fast" and "accurate". Compared with similar incidents in the past, the police immediately gave a phased judgment of "eliminating criminal suspicion" and provided an important direction; the remaining issues can only be handed over to a more professional and systematic investigation process.

A little longer thinking

In recent years, we have discussed too much about the topic of "celebrity and public opinion" - from business myths to collapse of personality, from collective carnival to collective hunting. Looking back today, there are only nine words that I am willing to say: Treat people as human beings. Between the dazzling and dark side, there is still a young man who works hard in the camera and walks ordinary in life. For such a person, at least what we can do is to maintain restraint when the information is unclear and restore the whole picture when the facts gradually become clear.

For media and platforms, every public emergency is a "gateway" test: use the clearest facts to build the simplest narrative; be cautious about unverified content.

Written at the end

A fall in autumn always reminds people of the line "The endless fallen trees are rustling down" in Tang poetry. We have too many powerless things, we just hope that time and truth can come step by step; we also hope that every onlooker will take "restraint and goodwill" as the starting point. Sorrow to the dead and pay tribute to the living.