Explainer: How new guideline intensifies crackdown on cyber violence

BEIJING, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- A new guideline on the crackdown on cyber violence, jointly issued by China's top court, top procuratorate and public security ministry, is expected to provide support for the prosecution and stricter punishment of such offenses.

While cyber violence has become an emerging problem on China's internet, its victims often find it hard to file or win lawsuits. The guideline is aimed at providing a clearer explanation regarding the application of the law in cyber violence cases and smoothening the criminal proceedings so as to offer timely legal remedies to victims, according to Zhou Jiahai, an official of the Supreme People's Court, who introduced about the guideline at a press conference Monday.

The guideline lists several forms of cyber violence, which are linked with certain charges. This is expected to provide a further reference for the prosecution of suspects in cyber-violence cases.

According to the guideline, people who fabricate or distribute rumors on the internet to degrade or defame others may be charged with defamation, while people who humiliate others by insulting or slandering them may be charged with humiliation.

The guideline also states that people who illegally collect and distribute other citizens' personal information through "human flesh search" -- meaning using netizens' power to search someone's private information -- may face the charge of infringing personal information, while network service providers who fail to fulfill their responsibilities when detecting cyber violence may be charged with refusing to perform the duties of information network security management.

The number of criminal cases of humiliation and defamation, which are the most prominent offenses found in cyber violence cases, is on the rise. Zhou noted that in 2022, Chinese courts received 618 criminal defamation cases of first instance, nearly four-fold more than the figure in 2013, of which only 29 cases were prosecuted by procuratorates. Only 43 defendants of the 587 criminal defamation cases concluded in 2022 were found guilty by courts.

This is mainly due to difficulties in identifying suspects and collecting evidence as well as the lack of clear standards about what kinds of humiliation and defamation cases can be prosecuted by procuratorates, Zhou said.

According to China's Criminal Law, offenses of humiliation and defamation are not prosecuted unless they cause "serious harm to public order or state interests." The new guideline provides further description of such exceptional situations, including "causing mental disorders or suicides of the victims or their near relatives," "distributing humiliating or defaming information multiple times," and "organizing or inciting people to distribute massive humiliating or defaming information on multiple internet platforms."

"Only by prosecuting through the public prosecution proceedings can evidence be collected and preserved in a timely and efficient manner, offenses punished in accordance with the law, and social and public order maintained," said Li Wenfeng, who is in charge of law and policy research at the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

The guideline also stressed "harsh punishment" for cyber violence and emphasized the focus on initiators and organizers, and those who take part in cyber violence multiple times. It especially mentions that those responsible for cyber violence against juveniles and disabled people, or fabricating information involving sex, may face severe punishment.

People who hire anonymous comment-posters or use generative artificial intelligence, as well as network service providers who initiate cyber violence, will also be subject to a heavier punishment, according to the guideline.