Top court: No letup in anti-cyberbullying battle

Chinese courts will continue efforts to fight cyberbullying by further optimizing judicial rules and providing more legal education for the public, so that people's sense of security can be ensured and social order can be maintained, said the head of China's top court.

"Judges are duty-bound to severely punish those bullying others through the internet, to better protect people's rights to privacy, their reputation, life and health," Zhang Jun, president of the Supreme People's Court, said in an exclusive interview with China Daily during the ongoing annual two sessions.

He revealed that the top court is accelerating the formulation of judicial interpretations related to the ban on infringing upon personality rights, and is ready to release some influential cases involving cyberbullying.

"We hope the improved rules and the guidance of cases, as well as the accurate application of laws, can help enhance our capability to curb cyberbullying and better support victims," he added.

While benefiting from the internet, many people have in recent years been frequently troubled by cyberbullying, which includes behavior such as abuse, insults, slander, or damaging others' privacy or reputation, he said, noting that insults, defamation and personal information infringement are the main crimes related to online bullying.

For example, a man surnamed Yang was found to have disclosed chat records with his ex-girlfriend online after they broke up, resulting in the woman being insulted by netizens and eventually committing suicide.

Another man surnamed Zhan was discovered to have posted a photo online of a student scanning the QR code on a teacher's mobile phone, falsely claiming that the teacher was collecting after-school fees, causing a flood of abuse and comments against the teacher.

"Yang infringed upon the woman's privacy, and Zhan damaged the teacher's reputation," Zhang said when talking about the two cases handled by lower courts.

Zhang added, "This increasingly serious cyberbullying makes people worry about being victimized, whether online or offline, polluting the online environment and disrupting social order."

However, he cited data from the past five years showing that criminal cases related to cyberbullying accounted for a low proportion — about two in a thousand — of all cybercrimes.

He said that a major reason for this phenomenon is that, under the Criminal Law, it is generally up to victims to decide whether to initiate a lawsuit, meaning that if they do not come to court with sufficient evidence, the judicial authorities will not intervene, let alone identify the related alleged behavior.

"It's difficult for individuals to collect evidence and defend their rights on their own, which, to some extent, encourages perpetrators to bully others online," he added.

To solve the problem, the top court, along with the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security issued a guideline in September.

It clarifies that when individuals make accusations of online insults or defamation, but courts find it hard for the victims to offer evidence after a review, judges can ask police to assist in the collection of evidence.

In addition, the guideline also specifies when prosecutors can take action, such as allowing them to initiate public-interest litigation if they discover internet service providers do not take measures or perform their duties when cyberbullying happens on their platforms, causing improper or even illegal content to be spread online.

Such specific rules will help prosecutors play a bigger role in combating cyberbullying, giving stronger support to victims, Zhang said.

After the guideline was released, the number of online defamation cases handled in prosecution procedures in 2023 increased by 10.3 percent year-on-year, and the number of convictions increased by 102.4 percent compared with 2022, he added.

Furthermore, the guideline states that heavier punishments will be given to those who bully the disabled or juveniles, and stipulates that someone who organizes cyber manhunts should also be harshly penalized.

"These provisions aim to help create a safer online environment to guarantee the public sense of security," Zhang said.

While urging judges nationwide to focus more on dealing with cyberbullying-related cases, he also encouraged them to offer more legal education to guide the public to use the internet in a civilized manner.

As a global issue, cyberbullying has frequently made headlines in recent years. Tragedies caused by online misconduct have caused public outrage and prompted cyberspace agencies and internet platforms to take action, in addition to courts.

For instance, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the country's top internet regulator, has also stepped up its fight against cyberbullying, requiring online platforms and websites to set up express channels for netizens to report bullies and help them block unfriendly comments.