In order to win traffic and attention
It was actually published on an online platform
45 short videos abusing others in dialects
In the end, the dream of "Internet celebrity" was shattered
On March 22, 2024, after the Nantong Haimen District Procuratorate initiated a public prosecution, the Haimen District Court convicted the defendant Ji of insult and sentenced him to eight months in prison, suspended for one year, and prohibited from engaging in business activities related to online live streaming during the probation period.
Ji is usually engaged in house decoration and intermediary work, registered 2 accounts on the information network platform, and often publishes some short videos to attract business, but the response is mediocre. In August 2022, Ji bought a special pike crab at a local seafood restaurant, and his family felt abdominal pain after eating it, so he posted a video on the online video platform abusing the seafood shopkeeper Gu in dialect.
In September 2022, Gu and Ji mediated the matter at the local police station, and the two parties reached a mediation agreement, and Ji also wrote a letter of guarantee: speak harmoniously online, pay attention to the words, and will not scold others again.
But after Ji found out that after he posted an abusive video, the number of fans and comments on the account actually increased, because Gu was a well-known local "Internet celebrity", and the sudden Internet traffic and attention made Ji lose himself. Since then, Ji has begun to post abusive videos to local "Internet celebrities" with a large number of fans on the video platform, which not only attracted many netizens to watch, but also used this to release personal negative emotions, and also made baseless comments and attacks on "Internet celebrities", causing a bad social impact. Although, under these abusive videos, there are also many comments that persuade Ji not to take risks and break the law, but Ji turns a blind eye and still goes his own way, looking forward to monetizing the traffic after further development.
In June 2023, Ji posted a video online to abuse the victim Huang. The angry Huang found Ji's family and confronted him face to face, and during the dispute, Huang suffered a head injury, and Ji's relatives were also admitted to the hospital because they were frightened. Huang and Ji were "both defeated" and were given administrative punishments by the police for fighting. Subsequently, Huang decided to report the case to the police, saying that Ji had insulted himself and his family on the Internet many times, and provided relevant evidence. In July 2023, the public security organs filed a case for investigation on Ji's suspicion of picking quarrels and provoking trouble, and asked the procuratorate to intervene in advance.
In view of the fact that the targets of Ji's insults were all well-known local self-media bloggers, and his alleged purpose was to rub off on the hot spots of several "Internet celebrities", and the object of the crime was relatively specific, the Haimen District Procuratorate guided the local public security organs to conduct an in-depth investigation in the direction of the crime of insult. In August 2023, the public security organs transferred Ji to the procuratorate for review and prosecution on suspicion of insult.
After review, the procuratorate believes that in order to attract people's attention and attract traffic, Ji openly insulted 7 people with online influence in the region on the information network platform, published a total of 45 insulting videos, with a cumulative number of more than 620,000 views, more than 1,500 retweets, and more than 1,900 comments, causing a significant decrease in the social evaluation of the victims, and causing a number of public security cases including brawls, with a bad social impact.
Article 246 of the Criminal Law stipulates that the crime of insult generally falls within the category of "handling only after complaining", except for those that "seriously endanger social order and national interests". The Haimen District Procuratorate considered factors such as the target of the violation, the motive and purpose, the mode of conduct, the scope of information dissemination, and the harmful consequences, and found that Ji's insulting behavior was "seriously endangering social order" and met the requirements for public prosecution.
The scene of the hearing
In order to widely listen to opinions and improve the quality and efficiency of case handling, in January 2024, the Haimen District Procuratorate invited deputies to the National People's Congress, people's supervisors, and CAC staff to participate in the public hearing of the case, and the participants unanimously agreed with the procuratorate's decision to prosecute Ji for insult.
On March 22, 2024, the case was tried in court, Pan Defeng, Secretary of the Party Group and Procurator General of the Haimen District Procuratorate, appeared in court to support the prosecution, and Du Kailin, Secretary of the Party Group and President of the Haimen District Court, was tried alone, and sentenced Ji to eight months in prison with a one-year probation for insult, and prohibited from engaging in business activities related to online live streaming during the probation period.
After the trial, at a meeting of local self-media practitioners, the prosecutor read out the "Internet Civilization Initiative" and said that "using wanton abuse, malicious slander, disclosure of privacy, etc., on the information network, openly insulting others, the circumstances are serious, and it is convicted and punished as the crime of insult." Where social order and national interests are seriously endangered, the procuratorate may initiate a public prosecution in accordance with law. ”
On March 25, under the supervision of the procuratorate, Ji used a local media platform to publicly apologize to the victim.
Source: Jiangsu Radio and Television Station's "Reasoning Statement", Nantong Municipal Procuratorate, Nantong Haimen District Procuratorate