On February 21, the Supreme People's Procuratorate held a press conference on the topic of "adhering to the people-centered approach and strengthening the criminal protection of personality rights in the Internet age." According to the meeting, in recent years, procuratorial organs across the country have continuously strengthened the protection of personality rights and defended the rights of the people in the Internet age. While the rapid development of the Internet brings convenience to life, it is sometimes also used by criminals, who wantonly spread rumors, slander the reputation of others, snoop on and spread the privacy of others, and everyone may become the target of infringement, and the protection of personality rights and personal dignity is closely related to everyone.
The picture is from the official website of the Supreme People's Procuratorate
At the press conference, the relevant person in charge of the Supreme People's Procuratorate said that since 2019, the national procuratorial organs have approved the arrest of 168 suspects suspected of insults and defamation, 12,410 suspects suspected of infringing on citizens' personal information, and 12 suspects suspected of infringing on the reputation and honor of heroes and martyrs. A total of 213 defendants were prosecuted for the crime of insult and defamation, 21,923 defendants suspected of infringing on citizens' personal information, and 15 defendants suspected of infringing on the reputation and honor of heroes and martyrs, effectively protecting the lawful rights and interests of the victims.
According to the person in charge, the occurrence cycle of criminal cases of infringement of personality rights in the network environment has obvious stages, and such cases are often accompanied by hot cases, such as the series of cases of infringing on the honor and honor of the heroes and martyrs of the Weiguo Shubian, and the series of cases of infringing on the reputation and honor of academician Yuan Longping, all of which occurred in a short period of time after the relevant news reports, and with the transfer of social hot spots, the number of cases was also reduced, but at the same time, it also indicated that a series of cases might appear again with the next hot event. On the other hand, insulting, defaming, or infringing on citizens' personal information against others on the Internet is spread quickly, widely, seriously harmful, and the consequences are uncontrollable. For example, in the case of Qiu Mou's infringement of the honor and honor of heroes and martyrs, the defamatory remarks released by Qiu Mou were clicked and read more than 130,000 times in just five hours, causing a bad social impact. In the defamation case of Lang X and He X, no. 137 of the procuratorate case, the Weibo topic "The woman who was rumored to have cheated on her has not been able to find a job so far" has been read 470 million times and the topic has been discussed 58,000 times. Procuratorial organs firmly grasp the characteristics of cases, through lawful, timely, and accurate handling of typical cases, guide the handling of similar cases, actively implement the legal popularization responsibility system of "who enforces the law and who popularizes the law", guide and standardize social behavior, and show that "cyberspace is not an extralegal place."
Accurately grasp the nature and circumstances of conduct in accordance with law, and implement criminal policies that blend leniency with severity. For example, when handling cases of infringement on the honor and honor of heroes and martyrs added by the Amendment (11) to the Criminal Law, it is clearly stated that whether it is a public security punishment or a criminal punishment, the principle of severe punishment according to law should be followed. Where the circumstances are serious, a decision on approving arrest or prosecution is to be made in accordance with law. Where it is not handled as a crime but constitutes a violation of the law, it is recommended that the public security organs impose heavier public security punishments in accordance with law. For example, in 2021, the Beijing Municipal Procuratorate handled the case of Chen Mou's infringement of the heroes and martyrs of the Weiguo Shubian, and after the procuratorial organs made a decision not to approve the arrest without constituting a crime, the public security organs made a decision to punish him for 14 days in accordance with the law. At the same time, procuratorial organs apply the plea leniency system in accordance with law in handling cases, prompting defendants to voluntarily admit guilt and accept punishment and sincerely repent of their crimes, and some defendants have publicly apologized through national media, effectively eliminating the negative impact and realizing the lawful protection of the victims' personality rights.
According to the relevant person in charge, the five guiding cases released by the Supreme People's Procuratorate reflect the following distinctive characteristics: First, it embodies the procuratorial organs' practice of Xi Jinping's rule of law thinking, adhere to the people-centered approach, and handle the "small cases" around the masses with heart and affection. This batch of Guiding Cases mainly selects cases for the criminal protection of spiritual personality rights, and, in the sense of the criminal law, they are basically cases of relatively minor crimes. Although these cases seem to be "small cases", they are "big things" for the parties. No matter who shares this kind of trouble, it will have a great impact on their body and mind, work, and life. For example, Gu Mou, the victim of Procuratorial Case No. 137, suffered a "social death" because he was defamed, causing his work and life to be seriously affected; victim No. 138 of Procuratorial Case No. 138 committed suicide by poisoning because his nude video and pictures were disseminated on the Internet; the private life of Victim No. 139 of Procuratorial Case No. 139 was arbitrarily sold on the Internet as a commodity; and the victim of Procuratorial Case No. 140 was frequently harassed because his information was leaked. These "small cases" have very serious consequences and are closely related to the lives of ordinary people. Procuratorial organs perform their duties and responsibilities, effectively punish crimes in accordance with law, protect the lawful rights and interests of victims, and demonstrate procuratorial responsibility.
For criminal cases of infringement of personality rights that have aroused widespread concern in society, the Supreme People's Procuratorate has given full play to the advantages of procuratorial integration, established and improved a rapid response mechanism, timely supervised and followed up guidance, flexibly grasped the use of policies and laws in accordance with the law according to the characteristics of different cases, strictly controlled the quality standards of cases, and supervised and guided more than 30 cases of various types of personality rights violations, such as the "Spicy Pen Ball" series of cases that infringed on the reputation and honor of heroes and martyrs, and the "Hangzhou Woman's Express Delivery Defamation Case". At the same time, strengthen mutual cooperation and mutual restraint with public security organs and people's courts. Guide timely, standardized, and comprehensive investigation and collection of evidence, clarify the facts, and promptly coordinate with public security organs in determining the nature and circumstances of the conduct, distinguishing between case facts and handling. Communicate with the people's courts in a timely manner on the application of evidentiary standards and procedures, ensuring the quality and effectiveness of case handling. Among them, qiu x infringed on the honor and honor of heroes and martyrs, and lang x and He x network defamation cases were rated by the Central Cyberspace Administration of China and the Supreme People's Procuratorate as the top ten typical cases of internet rule of law since the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
In June last year, the CPC Central Committee issued the Opinions of the CPC Central Committee on Strengthening the Legal Supervision of Procuratorial Organs in the New Era (hereinafter referred to as the Opinions). The "Opinions" put forward clear requirements for "effectively strengthening judicial guarantees for people's livelihood" and "actively leading the awareness of the rule of law in society". Next, the Supreme People's Procuratorate will take the implementation of the "Opinions" as an opportunity to continuously strengthen the protection of personality rights.
The Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases Involving the Use of Information Networks to Commit Defamation and Other Criminal Cases issued in 2013 has played an important role in guiding judicial practice. However, with the rapid development of information networks, especially the emergence of social platforms such as WeChat, Weibo, and Douyin, information release and interaction models have profoundly changed. In view of the high cost of safeguarding the rights of victims of online defamation crimes and the practical dilemma of "difficulty in collecting evidence, difficulty in presenting evidence, and difficulty in proof" through private prosecution relief, the Supreme People's Procuratorate is working with the Supreme People's Court and the Ministry of Public Security to study and draft relevant normative documents, and intends to further clarify issues such as "seriously endangering social order and national interests" and the procedural connection between private prosecution and public prosecution, so as to better guide the handling of defamation cases. In addition, in order to implement well the provisions of the Criminal Law Amendment (XI) on crimes against the honor and honor of heroes and martyrs, the Ministry of Public Security, together with the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Supreme People's Court, has issued relevant normative documents, and the next step is to effectively implement the relevant opinions to punish illegal and criminal activities that infringe on the honor and honor of heroes and martyrs in accordance with the law.