Ye Tieqiao
In recent years, there have been numerous news reports about people being detained for sending text messages or posting online. Cases such as the Pengshui poetry case, Jishan document case, Gaotang internet case, Wang Shuai post case, and Caoxian internet case have all drawn public attention.
Upon closer examination of each case's development, several common characteristics emerge that are worth analyzing:
Firstly, these cases mostly occur at the county or district level of government rather than at the provincial or municipal levels. Does this imply that the governance capabilities, and understanding of policies and laws at the county level need improvement? Or is it because some grassroots governments still hold a strong "rule by man" mentality, thereby revealing a clear "control over others" mindset?
Secondly, these cases generally involve the personal image and reputation of major local government officials. However, while these cases pursue responsibility under charges of defamation, they are almost always treated as public prosecution cases, with very few instances of allegedly "insulted or defamed" government officials standing as plaintiffs. As for those labeled as "defamers," they often only know who they have offended but do not know who they have "defamed," thus creating a new passive extension in today’s context of "being employed."
According to Article 246 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China: For cases involving public insult or fabricated defamation, "prosecution occurs only upon complaint," so these cases usually fall under private prosecution, "unless they seriously endanger social order and national interests." How to determine whether a case is "serious" or "not serious," and who holds the power to interpret this? From these cases, it is quite evident that whoever holds public power also holds the power to interpret.
Fortunately, the Ministry of Public Security has recently interpreted "seriously endangering social order and national interests" as follows: Only under the following circumstances can defamation or insult be investigated as a public prosecution case: (1) When insults or defamation lead to mass incidents that significantly disrupt social order; (2) When insults or defamation target diplomatic envoys, visiting foreign heads of state, or government leaders, causing severe international repercussions; (3) Other situations where insults or defamation severely harm national interests.
Thirdly, looking at the content of posts made by those labeled as "defamers" in these cases, it is not entirely without issues. There are cases of verbal abuse, veiled criticism, and exaggeration based on inaccurate information. However, digging deeper into this reveals the frequent loss or ineffectiveness of normal channels for reflecting issues. More often than not, these channels are ineffective, leaving ordinary citizens either feeling like they’ve hit an impenetrable wall, bruised and battered, or lost in a maze of bureaucratic buck-passing, returning home disheartened. Consequently, they resort to posting online or sending text messages to vent their frustrations.
Finally, new means of communication like text messages and the internet have expanded the space for public discourse, but they have also posed challenges for regulators. In the face of these new forms of communication, will regulators be tolerant and open-minded, or will they seek revenge for minor slights, violating standard procedures to settle personal scores? This is one of the reasons behind the occurrence of these cases.
Public opinion supervision drives societal progress. Wang Shuai, who was pursued across provinces, was ultimately "exonerated"; the defamation case against Zhang Baiqing for commenting on Xu Gengrong's incident was eventually dropped. The four parties involved in the online posts initiated a criminal self-prosecution, which is their rightful entitlement. From public authority intervention to criminal self-prosecution, the cases finally returned to the legal track.
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