Criminal Law Regulation Of Online Rumor-mongering

In order to effectively regulate the crime of online rumor spreading,in 2013,the two institutions jointly issued the Interpretation on Several Issues concerning the Application of Law to Criminal Cases involving Defamation through Information Network(hereinafter referred to as the Interpretation),which clarified the legal application standards for spreading and spreading false information on the information network.The Interpretation has played a positive role in regulating online speech and severely punishing Internet rumor to some extent.However,at the same time,the Interpretation has been controversial since the date of its release,especially the question of whether it is reasonable to regulate the Internet rumor with the crime of provoking trouble,which has widely raised questions in the academic circles.In 2015,the legislature enacted Amendment to IX to the Criminal Law,adding the crime of fabricating and intentionally spreading false information,which further deepened the criminal regulations of online rumor spreading and effectively contained the spread of online rumor spreading crimes to a certain extent.Taking three cases in practice as examples,this paper summarizes the following focal issues: 1.How to define the network rumor behavior in criminal law;2.Whether the network rumor behavior of criminal regulations violates the freedom of speech;3.Whether the criminal standard of network rumor behavior is reasonable;4.Whether the criminal subject of network rumor behavior is comprehensive;5.Whether the penalty configuration of network rumor behavior is scientific,and thus analyzed.Combined with the governance experience of foreign countries,it is proposed to improve the relevant charges,correctly apply the crime of libel,limit the use of the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble,expand the scope of "false information" and the subject of crime,adjust the punishment allocation and other suggestions.However,we should pay attention to the premise of criminal law intervention,give scientific play to the function of criminal law to punish crime,and ensure citizens' freedom of speech to a greater extent.