Recently, an instructive opinion was released jointly by China Supreme Court, China Supreme Procuratorate, and China Ministry of Public Security, as to the punishment of virtual violence cybercrime.
1. Cyber violence’s hazard to society shall be fully recognized, and civil interest and internet order shall be legally kept.
On internet, there is violent act against individuals such as insult, slander, invasion to privacy, undermining one’s dignity and damaging one’s reputation, some of which caused other’s social death or even spiritual disorder, suicide and etc. Disrupting internet order, destroying internet ecology, caused cyberspace smell bad, and endangered to social security. Different from traditional crime, cybercrime usually harms to the strangers never known. The victims is hard to identify the offender and collect evidence, costing high to maintain rights.

2. The laws should be applied precisely to strictly punish the cybercrime
Internet slander shall be legally punished. If someone fabricates and diffuses rumour, undermine others’ dignity, damage others’ fame, on the internet, he/she shall be subject to the punishment of slander crime according to provision 246 of criminal law of China.
Cyber insult shall be subject to punishment by law. For publicly insulting others by way of making dirty words randomly, malicious detriment, disclosure of privacy and etc on internet, if it’s grave, it shall be subject to provision 246 of criminal law and punished for crime of insult.
Infringement of individual information shall be punished. Organising “cyber manhunt”, gathering individual information and disclosing it to public, if grave, shall be punished according to provision of 287 and as the crime of invasion of citizen’s private information. If other crimes are met as per the criminal law and judicial interpretation, the harder one shall apply.
Strictly punish the malicious marketing behaviour leaning on cyber violence. In order to attach hot topics and extract flow, push and diffuse information relating to cyber violence by use of internet public user account, if met with the clause 1 of provision 287 of criminal law, shall apply to the punishment for crime of illegal use of internet. When other crimes are met in concurrence, the harder one shall apply.
Strictly punish the behaviour of resisting obligation of cyber space security monitor.
Strictly punish t the offense on internet violence. For the one exercising internet insult \slander and etc. if a crime not reached but meet the social order administration law, a administrative punishment shall apply.
Strict punishment shall be put on the cyber violence criminal offense.
Uphold civil claims: for the complaint made by victims for civil liability, the court shall uphold it according to the law.
Have a precise understanding the criterion of convicting a crime.
3. In the instruction opinion, it also urges all judicial organs to have an unimpeded channel to lawsuit procedure, giving sufficient legal remedy.

This article is made by lawyer Wang.Jingzhan according to China’s latest release of judicial opinion.