China is currently experiencing a very rapid development of information networks, which has greatly promoted the development of the new economy and the convenience of social public life, but at the same time, it has also spawned new cyberspace chaos, with frequent occurrences of malignant cyber violence. Cyber violence is different from traditional crime in that it exhibits new types and characteristics of behavior. For the criminal legal regulation of cyber violence, there is already sufficient necessity and legitimacy. Although the current criminal legal system in China can evaluate and combat online violence to a certain extent, there are obvious problems such as insufficient regulatory scope and insufficient regulatory force, which are difficult to adapt to the current situation of effective governance of illegal crimes and need to be optimized and improved. 

1、 The Manifestation and Characteristics of Cyber Violence

The term "cyber violence" is not yet a normative legal concept, but there has been much discussion and research on it in both legal theory and judicial practice. It is generally believed that online violence refers to an illegal act in which Internet users publish statements, words, pictures, and videos that have the five characteristics of "defamatory, defamatory, defamatory, damaging, and inflammatory" on the Internet, thereby causing damage to the rights and interests of citizens, legal persons, or other organizations, or causing adverse social impact. 

（1） Three Types of Cyber Violence

When it comes to online violence, people are most likely to think of verbal violence such as insults and slanders. In fact, the forms of online violence are relatively broad and are not limited to verbal violence against personal rights. According to different objective manifestations, online violence can generally be divided into the following three types. 

1. Cyber language attacks

Network language attacks mainly include: spreading information on the network that insults or denigrates the reputation of others with disparaging value judgments; Fabricate facts that harm the reputation of others and spread them on information networks, or organize or instruct others to spread them on information networks; Tampering the original information content involving others on the information network into a fact that damages the reputation of others, spreading it on the information network, or organizing or instructing others to spread it on the information network. Cyber language attacks mainly target specific individuals and infringe upon the personality and reputation rights of others. 

2. Excessive human flesh search

"Human flesh search" mainly refers to concentrating the power of netizens to search for someone's information and resources, and conducting certain processing and sorting. Once these information and resources are publicly disseminated through the Internet, supplemented by subjective evaluations, they can easily evolve into a form of cyber violence, which undoubtedly constitutes a serious violation of the privacy of others. For example, the case of Dr. An's suicide caused by a human flesh search in Deyang in 2018 is a true portrayal: In August 2018, Dr. An had a dispute with a boy in the hotel swimming pool. Dr. An's husband saw his wife being insulted and beat him. Later, he was subjected to a "human flesh search" by his family. Five days later, Dr. An committed suicide due to stress. 

3. Network rumors

Internet rumors refer to the release of news or rumors on the Internet that have no factual basis or reliable information sources. Specifically, it can be divided into deliberately planned rumors, prematurely concluded rumors, malicious rumors, unscrupulous rumors, rumors close to the truth, and recurring rumors. The most common ones are statements involving emergencies, public health, food and drug safety, political figures, subversion of traditions, and deviance from the norm. Unlike online language attacks and excessive human flesh search, online rumors have not only been limited to the infringement of specific individuals, but have more extended and expanded to the destruction of social order, market economic order, social public security, and even national interests. 

（2） Three main characteristics of cyber violence

The essence of online violence also lies in violence, which is not fundamentally different from traditional crime. The key lies in its use of the special medium of the Internet. Compared to traditional violence, the following three characteristics are particularly evident in online violence. 

1. There are many participants and the behavioral subject is uncertain

The network is a virtual space that is interconnected worldwide. Any network user can participate in the attention and discussion of a certain topic and focus without restriction. In addition, online media itself has a "eyeball effect" that attracts the attention of various users, while most online users themselves have a "curiosity hunting mentality", which further exacerbates the blind obedience of online violence. The comprehensive effect of multiple factors determines the broad, collective, and non specific nature of the participants in online violence. 

2. Sudden and extremely rapid diffusion

The speed of information dissemination through the Internet is far beyond traditional means such as newspapers, telephones, and television. Once traditional criminal acts rely on the power of the internet, they are no longer subject to the constraints of time and space. News released from any corner of the world can be said to be explosive and difficult to control. In addition, the emergence of network push and network water army has strengthened the timeliness and scale of information diffusion. 

Difficulties in safeguarding the rights of the infringed

Due to the virtuality of cyberspace and the universality and uncertainty of the number of participants in online violence, when faced with the fact of being infringed, the subject of infringement often cannot be effectively determined, which is the primary challenge faced by rights protection. In addition, information published on the Internet as electronic data is easily tampered with, deleted, and difficult to preserve. In the absence of timely intervention by national public authorities, the collection and fixation of evidence is equally difficult. Faced with such a situation, the victim is likely to fall into a helpless situation. 

2、 The Necessity and Legitimacy of the Criminal Law Regulation of Cyber Violence

Based on the types and main characteristics of online violence, it is necessary and legitimate to regulate it by criminal law. 

（1） Cyber violence has serious social harmfulness

Once the traditional crime is plugged into the wings of the network, it presents a trend of rapid development, wide spread, serious and uncontrollable consequences, and its harm is often only more serious than traditional crime. From the perspective of various cases of online violence that have occurred, it can lead to damage to others' rights to reputation, honor, privacy, and other personality rights, while it can indirectly harm physical health and life safety. The most serious cases may also exacerbate social conflicts, undermine the credibility of the government, and endanger national security and other serious consequences. 

（2） Civil law and administrative law are not sufficient to completely regulate cyber violence

First of all, the Civil Code of China stipulates the tort liability of stopping the infringement, compensating for damages, and apologizing for the civil acts of network users and network service providers who use the network to infringe upon others. In the face of the more serious harmfulness of online violence than traditional violence, such legal liability obviously cannot effectively combat such illegal acts. 

Secondly, administrative laws and regulations such as the Public Security Management Penalty Law also lack clear and systematic provisions for acts of cyber violence, and punishment methods such as public security detention are also difficult to balance with the serious consequences of cyber violence. 

Therefore, when other laws cannot effectively evaluate and regulate cyber violence, criminal law, as a safeguard law and a backing law, should not be absent. 

（3） The regulation of cyber violence already has a positive legal basis

First of all, traditional language violence and information violence have already been the targets of our criminal law. Therefore, as far as network violence, which fully possesses the nature of violence, is concerned, it is necessary to include it in the scope of criminal law regulation, which is in line with basic empirical rules. 

Secondly, in 2013, the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in Handling Criminal Cases such as Using Information Networks to Implement Defamation has included the use of information networks to implement rumors and defamation into the scope of criminal strikes, which is sufficient to illustrate the state's attitude towards regulating acts of cyber violence in criminal law. However, due to the changes in reality, such laws have lagged behind the changes in reality, and it is necessary to continue to optimize and improve them. 

Finally, there are relevant subsidiary criminal law provisions as a cushion. For example, the "Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Maintaining Internet Security" stipulates that "if a crime is constituted, criminal responsibility shall be investigated in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Criminal Law" for some acts of online violence, including: using the Internet to insult others or fabricate facts to slander others; Using the Internet to damage others' business reputation and commodity reputation; Using the Internet to spread rumors, slander, or publish or disseminate other harmful information, inciting subversion of state power, overthrowing the socialist system, or inciting division of the country or undermining national unity; Using the Internet to incite ethnic hatred and discrimination and undermine ethnic unity; And so on. 

3、 The Shortcomings of the Current Criminal Law in Regulating Cyber Violence

A careful review reveals that there are roughly 15 related crimes in China's current Criminal Law regarding cyber violence, including the crime of insult, the crime of defamation, the crime of damaging business reputation and commodity reputation, the crime of provoking provocation, the crime of inciting national hatred, ethnic discrimination, the crime of illegal business operations, the crime of inciting violence to resist the implementation of the law, the crime of fabricating or deliberately disseminating false terrorist information, The crime of fabricating or intentionally disseminating false information, the crime of organizing or using religious sects or cults, or the crime of using superstition to undermine the law, the crime of organizing or using religious sects or cults, or the crime of using superstition to cause death, the crime of inciting to split the country, the crime of inciting to subvert state power, the crime of disturbing the morale of the military during wartime, and the crime of fabricating rumors to mislead the public during wartime. It seems that there are many charges, but either they are "marginalised", or the criminal responsibilities and punishments are not compatible, or the provisions are not clear. There are obvious shortcomings in regulating illegal and criminal acts of online violence, such as insufficient scope and strength. 

（1） The scope of regulation of relevant crimes in the current criminal law is limited, making it difficult to fully cover the manifestations of cyber violence

Taking the crime of fabricating and intentionally disseminating false information in the current Criminal Law as an example, the object of its regulation is only four types of false information: dangerous situation, epidemic situation, disaster situation, and police situation. However, in reality, there are still many types of false information that can cause serious confusion in market order and public order. For example, the former case of citrus maggots in Guangyuan, Sichuan Province, resulted in the serious unsalable consequences of citrus throughout the province due to network rumors. This is not serious and is worthy of punishment. Unfortunately, such rumors and rumors are neither targeted at specific individuals or enterprises, nor are they among the four types of false information specified in Article 291 of the current Criminal Law, nor can they be covered by other specific charges in the current Criminal Law. In the era of increasingly developed Internet, similar things may still continue to occur. In the face of similar behavior objects, the current criminal law is clearly lacking in regulation. 

For example, the issue of human flesh search is also difficult to be fully regulated by the current criminal law. The most direct aspect of human flesh search is the infringement of other people's personal information. However, the existing crime of infringing on citizens' personal information only regulates three forms of infringement: "stealing, selling, and providing". However, human flesh search is often used to publish or disseminate other people's information, which clearly cannot be regulated by this crime. 

（2） Faced with cyber violence, it is difficult to adapt the relevant charges in the current criminal law to the criminal responsibility and punishment

Taking the crime of insult and defamation in the current Criminal Law as an example, if the circumstances are serious, it constitutes a crime, and the maximum legal penalty is only three years' imprisonment. As mentioned earlier, due to the characteristics of online violence itself, its consequences may be far more serious than those caused by traditional means of insult and defamation. The examples of online violence cases that have occurred, leading to victims committing suicide and having a bad social impact, are strong evidence. Therefore, in the face of such serious consequences, if the perpetrators are only sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, it is obviously difficult to achieve punishment as a crime, which cannot effectively exert the deterrent power of punishment, and is not conducive to achieving the goal of criminal prevention by punishment. 

（3） Insufficient protection of criminal justice

This is mainly reflected in the allocation of responsibilities and procedures for prosecuting illegal and criminal acts, specifically the issue of public prosecution and private prosecution. According to the current Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law of China, the crimes of insult and defamation belong to crimes of private prosecution, and only those who are informed by the victim will be dealt with. However, when victims are faced with insults and slanders in the form of online violence, due to the difficulty of objectively evidencing crimes, they often fall into the dilemma of not receiving timely assistance. 

For example, in 2020, the case of a Hangzhou woman who committed suicide due to rumors, slander, and infidelity occurred. Finally, the prosecution took nearly a month to collect evidence, forming 18 case files and 76 CDs. "There are so many evidentiary materials in a defamation case that even using the investigative power of the national judicial organs has taken such a long time. If it were to rely solely on individual efforts, the difficulty would be unimaginable.". 

4、 Perfection of the Criminal Law Regulation of Cyber Violence

It is imperative to regulate cyber violence with criminal laws, and the key lies in what plans and approaches to take. 

（1） Optimize and improve traditional criminal law provisions

In the existing research and discussion, some scholars have proposed that the criminal law should explicitly add specific new charges, such as "the crime of cyber violence.". Although such a plan is reasonable, the author believes that it is more reasonable and scientific to optimize and improve it under the existing legal accusation framework. 

Firstly, the essence of cyber violence and traditional crime is the same. The essential characteristics of cyber violence and related traditional crimes are embodied in violence, only through the use of a new type of behavioral means called "network". For example, insults and slanders committed through online violence only need to be modified and improved in the criminal counts and statutory penalties set forth in Article 246 of the current Criminal Law, without the need to add new independent charges. 

Secondly, the legal interests of cyber violence are diverse and cannot be covered by a new independent charge. As mentioned earlier, cyber violence can be manifested in three types, and the legal benefits of specific acts of infringement may also be diverse, including personal rights, democratic rights, social and public order, public security, and market economic order. In fact, there are already quite a few crimes related to cyber violence in the current Criminal Law, which are also distributed under different chapters of the Criminal Law. However, due to the lag and limitations of the provisions themselves, they cannot adapt to the new reality. Therefore, it is entirely possible to optimize existing provisions by improving them. 

（2） Improve the provisions of judicial interpretation on conviction and sentencing standards

Taking the crime of defamation as an example, the current judicial interpretation criteria for serious circumstances are: (1) the actual number of clicks and views on information reaches more than 5000 times, or the number of times it is forwarded reaches more than 500 times; (2) Causing serious consequences such as mental disorder, self mutilation, suicide, etc. of the victim or his close relatives; (3) "Within two years, I have been subjected to administrative penalties for defamation and have also defamed others.". 

Firstly, as mentioned above, the statutory penalty range for insults and defamation is single and too low. If the penalty range is modified and improved, the reference point and quantification of the penalty standard should also be adjusted accordingly. Secondly, under the categorization, the specific behavior of online violence is diverse. When classified into relevant specific crimes according to different legal interests and behavior patterns for improvement, the corresponding conviction and sentencing standards should also be different and determined in judicial interpretation. Finally, corresponding explanations can also be provided for issues that are easily confused, such as the identification of the categories of false information and rumors, critical and legitimate comments and insults, and the categories of defamation. 

（3） Include serious cyber violence cases into the scope of public prosecution cases

Including serious cases of cyber violence into the scope of public prosecution cases not only can effectively combat illegal crimes in a timely manner, but also can avoid the judicial authorities' prevarication, in order to timely and effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of victims. According to relevant news reports, in the case of Doctor Deyang'an in Sichuan, her husband reported the case as "crime of violating citizens' personal information" after the incident in August 2018. However, Mianzhu Municipal Procuratorate did not formally prosecute the suspect until the summer of 2019, and the court finally sentenced the defendant as an insult on August 6, 2021. It has been nearly three full years since then. During this period, I experienced returning for supplementary investigation and multiple court hearings. This shows the tortuous course of litigation and the difficulty of safeguarding rights. It is conceivable, then, that if a private prosecution was initially conducted solely for the crime of insult, it would be doubtful whether such a result could be achieved. 

epilogue

To build an internet power, we should not only pursue the speed and scale of the development of internet technology, but also pay attention to the possible negative ecology that may arise from it. The prevention and governance of cyber violence is a complex and systematic project that cannot be separated from the adjustment of civil law and administrative law, and the regulation of criminal law is also essential. "Only through a multi-pronged approach, can the legal functions of various departments complement each other, similar to the tragic scenes of the recent Shanghai epidemic in which a girl delivering rice to her father was subjected to online violence and suicide, a Hangzhou woman receiving express delivery was rumored, defamed, and derailed, a Liu Xuezhou suicide due to online violence, a Jiang Ge and her mother were subjected to online insults and slanders, and multiple cases of infringement on the reputation and honor of heroes and martyrs.", Can be effectively contained. National security, social stability, and people's happiness are our common pursuit.