New regulation can help curb cyber-bullying

Amid increasing public complaints about cyber-bullying, internet platforms can no longer pretend that malpractices have nothing to do with them.

Four central government departments jointly issued a new regulation recently, asking internet platforms to strengthen their early warning system to more effectively deal with online bullying. The regulation makes it clear that cyber-bullying or harmful contents targeting individuals is illegal. Harmful contents and cyber-bullying include rumors; defamatory and discriminatory comments, invasion of privacy and intimidation.

Coming into effect on Aug 1, the regulation requires internet service providers to strengthen their early warning system against potential online bullying, and classify cyber-bullying contents and use technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data to verify the authenticity and legality of online contents.

I hope the new regulation will be more effective in curbing online bullying. I have come across many such cases while browsing online platforms for news and views. As a journalist, I was taught to be accurate and objective in the reports I filed. But I am appalled by the proliferation of rumors and defamatory contents on the internet today. I sometimes wonder if journalistic ethics and values have changed, and if online platforms even bother to edit the contents before uploading them.

There have been reports of online bullying victims committing suicides or losing their mind. If the targets of cyber-bullying have violated the law, there are the police to detain or arrest them, and there are courts to try, and if found guilty, to sentence them to jail terms. No one has the right to hold a "kangaroo court" online and condemn a person for an alleged violation of law.

Perhaps we cannot expect the more than 1 billion netizens in China to have an in-depth understanding of the law and respect the human rights of others. Many people forward something they find interesting to friends and relatives without checking their authenticity. But by doing so, they might be violating the law if the "interesting" stories or videos are fabricated by a person or group to target another person or group.

While punishing millions of minor "law offenders" is neither possible nor legally necessary, law-enforcement officers should take actions against those spreading rumors and fabricating stories to target other people.

Over the past few years, a number of such law violators have been compelled to publicly apologize for their deeds, or fined and/or detained by police. In a recent case, a cyber-bully was sentenced to six months' imprisonment. More such punishments should be made public to deter rumormongers and cyber-bullies from defaming people.

I believe the new regulation for internet service platforms has more teeth, because similar regulations in the past failed to curb online bullying.

First, the new regulation has been jointly issued by the Cyberspace Administration of China, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the National Administration of Radio and Television, which means they will together enforce the regulation and plug the legal loopholes to hold cyber-bullies and rumormongers accountable.

Second, the new regulation makes clear the mandatory requirements online platforms need to fulfill, and they include establishing a mechanism to monitor the parties involved in uploading rumors and defamatory contents and the frequency of the uploads, and warn the authorities of cyber-bullying risks.

An internet news service platform manager once told me that they hated rumors and online bullying as much as we did but found it difficult to separate the bad eggs from the good ones, because "unlike newspapers, radios and televisions, the online platforms have to deal with an ocean of information round the clock".

I believe he was telling the truth. But against the background of unfettered spreading of rumors and defamatory and discriminatory contents online, arguments such as the manager's appear invalid. I hope the new regulation will deter online bullying and help build a healthier internet environment.

The author is former deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily.