China Comes Out With Draft Guidelines To Deal With Online Abuse

In order to deal with online abuse, China has issued draft guidelines which were formulated by the Ministry of Public Security and the Supreme People’s Court.

The same was considered necessary on account of the increase in cyberbullying and attacks. It was also observed that these were mainly directed at women and children. Recently, a young mother’s suicide in Wuhan was attributed to the criticism pointed at her on social media platforms. This was regarding her demeanour after her son died upon being run over by a teacher’s car in a school compound.

As per the draft guidelines, the authorities will take appropriate action against people responsible for cyber violence under criminal law as per the severity of the offence. The act of doxxing, i.e., making a person’s private information publicly available on the internet without his or her consent, would also be covered under cyber violence.

The comments on the draft guidelines have to be submitted by June 25, 2023.