The Exposure Legal Defects of Chinese Crackdown on Online Rumors

(By You Yunting) Recently, Chinese governments have cracked down on the spreading of rumors online, and have arrested some web users for allegedly fabricating or disseminating online rumors. A lot of netizens have voiced their objections that this crackdown suppressed the “proper freedom of speech.” In our opinion, theoretically, online rumors shall better be handled through other means of self-remedy, such as the victims filing civil or criminal lawsuits against the alleged rumormongers. However, government intervention is in some cases a realistic necessity to more effectively crackdown online rumors, because in some cases the victims hurt by online rumors cannot file a lawsuit on their own initiative, often resulting from a failure to discern the rumormonger’s identity.

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Fang Zhouzi V.S. Han Han & Chinese Legal System on Reputation Infringement

The most notably and widely discussed issue around this Chinese New Year, to Bridge IP Law Commentary’s opinion, is probably not the traditional spring festival variety show on CCTV, but the argument between Fang Zhouzi, a self-claimed anti-fraud cop or myth buster, and Han Han, an acclaimed writer in China. The flame battle started from a blog by Mai Tian, a better-known blogger, doubting many works of Han Han are actually written by his father or other unnamed writer while published in his name. Despite it ends in Mai Tian’s apology and admission of mistake, the issue opens the Pandora’s box of doubts on Han Han. Afterwards, Fang Zhouzi took the relay baton, who was counter-backed by Han Han and his father, and moreover Han Han showed his original manuscript for proving. After days of online words war, Han Han filed the lawsuit for the reputation infringement and claimed the compensation of 100, 000 yuan.

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