The Research On Internet Rumors And The Crime Of Defiance And Affray

With the rapid development of information technology, the information network, known the Internet as its main body, becomes increasingly popular, and shows a trend of “the combination of three bodies(the Internet, TV and communications)”. According to a report released by China Internet Network Information Center(CNNIC), by the end of December 2014, the scale of China’s Internet users had reached 649 million, Internet penetration rate reached 47.9% and mobile phone users exceeded 557 million. On the one hand, the rapid development of information networks benefits people’s daily life, work and study, broadening citizens’ channels to fulfill the right of public opinion; on the other hand, the phenomenon of fabricating and spreading rumors, stirring up troubles, the intention to undermine the order of society in cyberspace occurs frequently. In September 2013, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate promulgated the " Interpretations on Several Issues concerning the Specific Application of Law in the Handling of Defamation through information Networks and Other Criminal Cases"(No. 21)(hereinafter referred to as the "interpretation"), among which, the Article 5 defines two behaviors of fabricating network rumors as the crime of defiance and affray(hereinafter referred to as the crime of defiance and affray in cyberspace), causing disputes among many scholars.I hold the view that by introducing the crime of defiance and affray into cyberspace, aimed at cracking down on Internet rumors, has a certain practical significance. However, from a long-term perspective, the fact that "interpretation" abruptly break the definition of public space and public order will lead to the confusion of the criminal justice system. In the judicial practice, the inconsistent interpretation of Article 5 in the "interpretation" will also lead to the frequent occurrence of expanding. Therefore, which academic view should be chosen to interpret Article 5, hence enabling it to fulfill both its function and restriction of Criminal Law, will have a positive reference for the current judicial practice.This thesis, by combining the methods of literature summarization, empirical analysis, system analysis etc., and also based on the stance of the restriction of Criminal Law, intends to analyze the doctrinal disputes and the problems in the judicial practice encountered after the promulgation of the "interpretation" in this one year, and then some countermeasures will be proposed. Furthermore, through the analysis of the traditional criminal charges on Internet rumors, and the summarization of the features of current Internet rumors based on the specific examples, this thesis gives some suggestions on how to improve the legislation of criminal law, for the aim of a more scientific utilization of laws to regulate the cyberspace concerning about the Internet rumors.