CHINA: An Introduction to Dispute Resolution: Litigation (PRC Firms)

Maintaining Our Online Reputation Will Be Crucial in the Coming Years

Over the past five years, it seems that our space and time have dramatically developed a parallel world, with more and more people settled there, that is, all major "we media" platforms. As a private and civilian communication channel, "we media" delivers information to an unspecified public and has become the main source for people to obtain external information nowadays. Any "we media" account many publish its evaluation of us at any time because of something, and the scope of being forwarded can reach all over the world. When we make a voice to the outside world, we are also "we media". There is a saying: In the Internet Age, it is not what you are that matters, but what you are online that matters. Although this statement is an exaggeration, it expresses the unprecedented importance of online reputation.

The Blue Book of the "China Internet Development Report 2023" released during the Wuzhen Summit of the 2023 World Internet Conference pointed out that as of June 2023, the number of internet users in China has reached 1.079 billion, and the internet penetration rate has reached 76.4%. Due to the low threshold for entry into the "we media", the convenience of registration process, and the increasingly mature models of turning traffic into commercial income, a large number of "we media" operators have emerged in just a few years. When these "we media" make a legitimate evaluation of social phenomena, company brands, product quality, technology or services, they can play the supervisory role of traditional media. But when they make false statements about the facts or make inappropriate remarks to steer the events in a particular direction in order to maximise traffic or their own interests, it may cause damage to the rights and interests of others.

In recent years, many "we media" outlets have stirred up all kinds of social hot spots, released news from unknown sources, and even fabricated facts, modified or grafted videos and pictures, and slandered others' reputations to attract traffic. This has been the root cause of many legal disputes. What's more, some "we media" outlets constantly release negative comments to disturb target customers. However, the facts it describes have a certain basis and are controversial, so it is not easy to determine as infringement through civil litigation. The ultimate goal is to obtain an amount of the so-called "cooperation fees" from the target customers, and then the negative comments would be deleted and no new malicious messages will be posted. When this kind of behaviour is serious, it can constitute a crime of extortion, and in reality there are cases of criminal punishment for this.

In the Wolters Kluwer legal information database, a total of 25,709 civil judgments, 2 criminal judgments and 48 administrative judicial documents can be searched by using "internet tort liability disputes" as the key word, of which 381 involve "rumour-mongering". In the automobile manufacturing industry, there has been a sharp increase in the number of cases brought before the courts by automobile manufacturers as a result of false and negative information being spread by "we media" and malicious negative comments being continuously posted. Litigation claims include stopping of reputation damage, deleting of infringing articles/videos, posting of an apology letter or video on the infringing account for tens of days, and payment of up to millions of RMB as damages for infringement.

In China, the Civil Code and other laws protect the right to reputation of civil parties. The Notice on Strengthening the Administration of "We-Media" issued by the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission restricts the release of untrue information by "we media". There are also the Criminal Law and regulations such as the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Handling of Criminal Cases involving Defamation and Other Offences via Information Networks to deal with online rumours and provoking troubles. In the era of ubiquitous "we media", the difficulty of protecting online reputation is much greater than that of infringement. A team of professional lawyers with good knowledge of media can help you protect your legitimate rights and interests in a swift and firm manner.

未来几年，维护好网络名誉权至关重要 

在过去的五年间，我们所处的时空似乎急剧发展出一个平行世界，越来越多的人口进驻到了那里，那就是各大自媒体平台。自媒体作为私人化、平民化的传播途径，向不特定的公众传递信息，已经成为人们获取外界信息的主要来源。任何自媒体都有可能随时因为一件什么事情把它对我们的评价发布出去，被转发触达的范围可以是世界各地；我们对外发出声音的时候，我们也是自媒体。有句话说：互联网时代，你是什么样不重要，你在网上是什么样才重要。虽然这个说法有些夸张，但表达了网络名誉前所未有的重要性。

2023年世界互联网大会乌镇峰会期间发布的《中国互联网发展报告2023》蓝皮书指出，截至2023年6月，中国网民规模达10.79亿人，互联网普及率达76.4%。自媒体的准入门槛较低，注册程序便捷，获取流量后转变成商业收益的模式日益成熟，因而短短几年产生了大量的自媒体运营者。当这些自媒体对社会现象、公司品牌、产品质量、技术或服务进行正当评价时，能够发挥传统媒体的监督作用；但当他们对于事实有不实描述、或发表不当言论使得事件向某个特定的方向发展，以追求流量或自身利益最大化时，就可能造成对他人权益的损害。

近年来，大量自媒体蹭炒各类社会热点事件，发布各类来源不明的消息，甚至以捏造事实、修改或嫁接视频及图片、诋毁他人声誉的方式吸引流量，是很多法律纠纷产生的根源。更有甚者，有的自媒体不断释放负面评价滋扰目标客户，但它所描述的事实又有一定的依据且存在争议，因而并不容易通过民事诉讼判定为侵权，最终是为了获得目标客户数量不菲的“合作费”，而后可以删除负面评论并不再发表新的恶意消息。这种行为严重时会构成敲诈勒索犯罪，现实中有因此获得刑事处罚的案例。

在威科先行法律信息数据库中，以“网络侵权责任纠纷”为关键词，一共能搜索到25,709份民事判决书、2份刑事判决书和48份行政司法文书，其中涉及“造谣”行为的有381份。在汽车制造行业，近年来因为自媒体传播虚假负面信息、持续恶意发布负面评价而被汽车厂家诉至法院的案件急剧增多，诉讼请求包括停止名誉侵害、删除侵权文章/视频、在侵权账号中置顶道歉信或道歉视频并持续公开数十日、支付数十到数百万元侵权损害赔偿等。

在中国，有《民法典》等法律保护民事主体的名誉权，有中央网信办发布的《关于加强“自媒体”管理的通知》约束自媒体发布不真实的信息，也有《刑法》和《最高人民法院、最高人民检察院关于办理利用信息网络实施诽谤等刑事案件适用法律若干问题的解释》等刑事法律法规处置网络谣言和寻衅滋事。在自媒体无处不在的时代，维护网络名誉权的难度远高于侵权的难度。一个深谙传媒之道的专业律师团队可以帮助你在维权过程中，迅速而坚定地保护好自己的合法权益。