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China judicial organs publish draft proposal to punish online abuse – JURIST

China’s Supreme People’s Court, Supreme People’s Procuratorate and Ministry of Public Security released a draft proposal to curb cyber abuse for public consultation on Friday.The draft, Guiding Opinions on Lawfully Punishing Cyber Violence and Crimes, provides directions on how to convict and punish individuals who commit “online violence” in accordance with Chinese Criminal Law. It also makes proposals as to how the judicial department will improve comprehensive governance measures to handle cases of online violence.According to the document, crimes of cyber violence should be seriously investigated and dealt with in accordance with the law, with a focus on cracking down on malicious initiators, organizers and repeat offenders. The following five categories of cyber violence will be subject to heavier penalties:Abuse targeting minors and disabled persons;
Cyber abuse from coordinated groups, termed “water armies” and “thugs”;
Sex-related fabrications that infringe on the personal dignity of others;
The use of “deep synthesis” technology to release illegal or false information, which violates public policy doctrine and ethics; and
Abuse initiated and organized by network service providers.The judicial document aims to punish online violence and crimes, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, and maintain a sense of social security and internet order. It is also a response to the frequent occurrence of online violence in the current Internet era.During the 2023 National People’s Congress, several representatives called for strengthening legislation on online violence. The work report released by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate this year also resolved to strictly punish cyber violence. From 2018 to 2022, 14,000 people in China were criminally prosecuted for online insults, defamation, and infringement of citizens’ personal information.According to the data from the 2019 Social Bluebook, one out of every three Chinese adults has suffered from online violence, and one out of every two minors has experienced online violence. In terms of internet usage among teenagers, the report points out that the age at which teenagers are exposed to the internet is becoming younger, with 10 percent of them starting to access the internet at the age of 15 or below. The report highlights a survey that shows 28.89 percent of teenagers have encountered violent and abusive information while online. Another relevant survey shows that 60 percent of respondents have experienced online violence.For the remediation of cyber violence, China has promulgated judicial provisions in its Civil Code, Criminal Law, Public Security Administration Punishment Law, Law on the Protection of Heroes and Martyrs, and Measures for the Administration of Internet Information Services, constituting a multi-dimensional and multi-level system to combat online violence. In November 2022, the Cyberspace Administration of China issued the Notice on Effectively Strengthening the Governance of Online Violence, proposing a series of targeted measures to effectively address online violence. At a press conference in March this year, Li Changxi, director of the Internet Rule of Law Bureau of the Cyberspace Administration of China, said that 28.75 million pieces of Internet violence-related information had been intercepted and deleted by various websites since November 2022. In response, the government has prompted netizens to post 1.65 million times in a civilized manner, sent one-click protection reminders to 28000 users, and severely punished 22000 perpetrators.On March 2, 2023, the 51st Statistical Report on the Development of China’s Internet was released by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), which showed that the number of Internet users in China has reached 1.067 billion by December 2022 and that 75.6 percent of people in China use the Internet.