China seeks public opinions on guideline against cyberbullying

BEIJING, June 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities Friday released a draft guideline on the punishment of illegal and criminal activities of cyberbullying to solicit public opinion.

The draft, issued by the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Public Security, aims to crack down on illegal and criminal cyberbullying activities in accordance with the law, protect people's rights and interests, and maintain good Internet order.

The document noted that illegal online behaviors, including online defamation, online insults, infringement of personal information, offline nuisance, and malicious marketing hype driven by cyberbullying, shall be lawfully punished.

Illegal and criminal activities of cyberbullying targeting minors and people with disabilities or involving online trolls shall be severely punished, according to the guideline.

Based on the difficulties in identifying the perpetrators and collecting evidence, the draft urged relevant authorities to provide sufficient legal aid for the victims of cyberbullying.