A Legal Research For Banning Tainted Entertainers

In an era of rapid development of mass media technology,entertainers,as a kind of public figures,can have great effects on society.In recent years,misdeeds of entertainers,serving as negative examples for society,have been frequently exposed even under strict prohibition,and meanwhile,tainted entertainers have been banned by the public.National Radio and Television Administration of the People's Republic of China issued Circular on Strengthening the Management of Production and Dissemination of Radio and Television Programs,Movies and Television Series,Network Audio-visual Programs from the General Office of State Administration of Press,Publication and Radio in 2014,which marks that regulation on tainted entertainers can be implemented by state administrative organizations.The prohibition of tainted entertainers from engaging in entertainment industry is commonly called banning.Through collating of news,it can be learned that there are many organizations having the authority to implement the banning,and among which NRTA is of the greatest effect.According to the standards published by NRTA,banned entertainers,who are mostly with moral deficiencies or have committed crimes,are collectively referred as tainted entertainers.The banning of this kind of entertainers implemented by NRTA is an intervention of public power on individual freedom and rights,and the legal issues behind are of research values.Although there are various reviews on the banning of tainted entertainers implemented by NRTA,as an organ directly under the State Council,it possesses the function of managing public affairs of radio and television in China.NRTA has the authority to implement management and impose penalties on entertainers.Therefore,in terms of form,it is legal for NRTA to block entertainers with misdeeds.However,as formal legality and substantive legality are two sides of legitimate administrative behavior,its substantive legality,that is,legitimacy,still needs to be justified.According to the proportion principle,substantive legality requires suitability,necessity and proportionality of administrative acts.On the issue of banning tainted entertainers,suitability requires administrative acts to contribute to the realization of administrative purposes;necessity requires administrative acts to minimize the infringement of entertainers' individual rights when implementing public power;proportionality requires balance between the effect of administrative acts and the damage to the interests of individuals.In order to satisfy the legitimacy,it is necessary to analyze the conflict of values behind the banning of tainted entertainers.As public figures,entertainers have certain impacts on the public that their bad behaviors can do harm to the social moral environment.As the social collapse theory points out that when a behavior seriously violates the public morality,its impact on the common thought of the society can lead to disintegration of society.According to social contract theory,when the public interest is violated,the government should intervene for protection.At the same time,when bad behaviors impact the moral environment,punishment on these behaviors contributes to the restoration of public moral standards.On the basis of this theory,the act of banning tainted entertainers is in accordance with suitability,necessity and proportionality.When banning is legal and legitimate,the limit of it in practice must be considered.During the process of implementing public power on tainted entertainers,the limit can be hard to control,thus it is necessary to discuss it in detail.That is,what the criteria are for judging tainted entertainers' influence on social moral,whether NRTA should block all entertainers who are against social moral standards,and how long the time limit of banning is.Based on the harm principle and supplied with offense principle,the limit of banning can be told.Meanwhile,behaviors that are not free wills of the entertainers should be treated as exceptions and reasonable provision for the limit of banning should be made.Only when the act of banning tainted entertainers implemented by public power,which is represented by NRTA,is carried out on the basis of legality and legitimacy and attention is attached to the limit in practice can it protect public interest and safeguard individual freedom and rights to achieve the best social effects.