Scenario in PRC

Laws and Regulations

According to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, there are laws protecting the citizens from being slandered or libeled. In Article 38 "The personal dignity of citizens of the People's Republic of China is inviolable" under Chapter II "The Fundamental Rights and Duties of Citizens", "insult, libel, false charge or frame-up directed against citizens by any means is prohibited" (PRC, 1982).

In the "General Principles of the Civil Law of the People's Republic of China" adopted at the Fourth Session of the Sixth National People's Congress, promulgated by Order No. 37 of the President of the People's Republic of China on April 12, 1986 and effective as of January 1, 1987 (PRC, 1987), there are also laws concerning defamation.

In the Section IV "Personal Rights" under Chapter V "Civil Rights", Article 101 "Citizens and legal persons shall enjoy the right of reputation" has stated that "the personality of citizens shall be protected by law, and the use of insults, libel or other means to damage the reputation of citizens or legal persons shall be prohibited."

In the Section II "Civil Liability for Breach of Contract" under the Chapter VI "Civil Liability", Article 120 states that "if a citizen's right of personal name, portrait, reputation or honor is infringed upon, he shall have the right to demand that the infringement be stopped, his reputation be rehabilitated, the ill effects be eliminated and an apology be made; he may also demand compensation for losses."

A just few years ago, there are also regulations specifically targeted for Internet control. One of them is the "Administrative Measures on Internet Information Services" (PRC, 2000) adopted at the 31st Executive Meeting of the State Council on September 20, 2000 by Order No. 292 of the State Council of the People's Republic of China. The Article 15 states that Internet information service providers shall not produce, duplicate, release or disseminate information that contains content that insults or defames others or infringes upon the lawful rights and interests of others.