As cyberbullying has grown increasingly rampant, China’s judiciary has finally taken action. Recently, the country’s top court and top prosecutor’s office, along with the Ministry of Public Security, issued the Guidelines for Punishing Cyber Violence Crimes in Accordance with the Law (Draft for Solicitation of Comments) for public comment. The draft guidelines, which is the first criminal normative document in China that has been open to public comment, have attracted widespread attention, showing the public’s interest in correcting this longstanding problem.
Not long ago, a mother in the central Chinese city of Wuhan jumped to her death after getting attacked online for her appearance in a widely circulated video that showed her crying over the sudden death of her young son. The release of the draft guidelines for public comment is a belated consolation to her and many other victims of cyberbullying.
