When an enterprise or business leader encounters online public opinion, sending a lawyer's letter is basically a scare to people, which has become a consensus in the industry.
There are also many companies that have really initiated a lawsuit in the court, which is generally a defamation infringement, but due to the long litigation period and other reasons, the final result may be: win the lawsuit and lose the reputation.
Of course, there is another more direct means, that is: call the police!
We saw that some time ago, because it was rumored to be a Japanese brand, Hua Xizi called the police;Because the executives were cyberbullied, Gree also called the police. But judging from public channels, there is no follow-up at present.
As the title says, the only two "following" cases in the recent police are Zheng Qiang and Cai Xukun incidents, but they are two diametrically opposite results: one is arrested by the police, and the other is told by the police to go to the court.
So here's the problem,When enterprises (business leaders) encounter crisis public relations or online violence, how can they report to the police to "work"?
Uncle briefly chat.
ps: Uncle is also learning and Xi, while sharing cases, if there are inaccuracies, welcome the gods to correct in the message area.
At the beginning of October this year, a netizen nicknamed "Huaqu" posted on social platforms to report that the "Internet celebrity" principal Zheng Qiang was cheating in marriage, and the object of the cheating was his fiancée. A number of screenshots of WeChat chat records were attached, which attracted huge attention on the Internet.
Soon,Zheng Qiang issued a public statement on thisSaid: All the text and ** content published by the account "Huaqu" are malicious fabrications and fictitious false informationA report has been made to **.
On November 30, the University Branch of the Jinzhong Municipal Public Security Bureau issued a "notice" sayingThe person involved in the case, Lu Moumou, fabricated false information in order to achieve his illegal goals, and has now been subject to criminal compulsory measures.
When the uncle saw the news at that time, on the one hand, he successfully refuted the rumors for Professor Zheng Qiang and applauded him, and on the other hand, he was reminded of the Cai Xukun incident.
After being exposed by the entertainment ** that "I had dated Ms. W, and posted the chat records and intimacy of both parties**", the woman in ** and Cai Xukun also reported to the police, saying that they were slandered by rumors.
However, Cai Xukun only received a police receipt, which clearly stated:
After verification, the case was handled only after the people's court told it."
For now, you can go to court and sue the other party yourself.
Zheng Qiang and Cai Xukun are both celebrities in a certain field, and after they encountered online public opinion, they both reported to the police on the grounds that they were slandered by a third party. But it turned out to be the opposite, why is that?
The uncle consulted a number of lawyer friends and tried to answer this question.
Why do you want to prosecute yourself?
Lawyer Wang Xugang, a partner of Beijing Dongwei Law Firm, told the uncle that according to the provisions of Article 246, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Law of China, fabricating facts to slander others, and the circumstances are serious, is suspected of being established according to the second paragraphIt is a private prosecution or a personal accusation that is only dealt with after being toldOf course, if it "seriously endangers social order and national interests", it should be prosecuted by the judicial organ in accordance with the public prosecution procedure (first highlight the key points, read below).
In other words, Cai Xukun and Zheng Qiang did the "right" response in the first step, that is, they took the initiative to litigate themselves. But why did the public security reply to Cai Xukun that "the people's court only handled the case when he told him"?
Why was Cai Xukun not filed a case by the police?
Lawyer Wang Xugang said that according to Article 210 of China's Criminal Procedure Law and other provisionsIn cases that are handled only after a complaint, the victim cannot report the case to the public security organs, but can only file a private criminal prosecution with the court.
But the public security is not unable to intervene*** Lawyer Wang Xugang said that according to the provisions of paragraph 3 of article 246 of the Criminal Law, in cases where the victim initiates a private prosecution for online insult or defamation, the people's court may request assistance from the public security organs if it finds that the victim has real difficulties in providing evidence.
In other words, Cai Xukun has to file a lawsuit with the people's court first, and after the court files the case, if the public security assistance is needed, the court will notify the public security.
Why did Zheng Qiang not go to the court for a private prosecution, and was filed by the public security?
Lawyer Wu Xiaobo, the chief partner of Shenzhen Haihan Law Firm, told the uncle that he needed to pay attention to a sentence in the police report"Causing adverse social impacts".It can be seen that the case has been transferred from a private prosecution to a public prosecution.
Lawyer Wu Xiaobo emphasized that in the "Guiding Opinions on Punishing Online Violence and Crimes in Accordance with Law" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions") issued by the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security on September 20 this year, there are clear opinions on the transfer of private prosecution to public prosecution.
On the basis of paragraph 2 of Criminal Law article 246, where crimes of insult or defamation are committed, seriously endangering social order and national interests, a public prosecution shall be initiated in accordance with law. The public security organs shall promptly file a case in accordance with law for online insults or defamation that seriously endangers social order.
According to the Opinions, if the victim simultaneously initiates a private prosecution with the people's court, the people's court may request the private prosecutor to withdraw the private prosecution or rule not to accept it;where it has already been accepted, a ruling shall be made to terminate the trial, and the relevant materials shall be transferred to the public security organs, and the original private prosecutor may participate in the litigation as a victim.
That is to say, once the private prosecution is transferred to the public prosecution, even if you file a lawsuit in the court, you will first ask the public security organs to file a case for investigation.
What kind of behavior is considered to be "seriously endangering social order"?
Zhang Zi, a senior partner of Shanghai Zhonghe Law Firm and a member of the Criminal Compliance Business Committee of the Shanghai Bar Association, told Uncle that there are clear provisions in the "Opinions".
In any of the following circumstances, carrying out online insulting or defamatory conduct shall be found to be "seriously endangering social order" as provided for in paragraph 2 of Criminal Law article 246:
1) Causing serious consequences such as mental disorders or suicide to the victim or his close relativesThe social impact is bad
2) Arbitrarily targeting the general public, and disseminating relevant information on a large scale on the Internet, triggering a large number of vulgar and malicious comments, and seriously disrupting the order of the InternetThe social impact is bad
3) Insulting or slandering multiple people or disseminating insulting or defamatory information multiple timesThe social impact is bad
4) Organizing or instigating personnel to disseminate a large amount of insulting or defamatory information on multiple online platformsThe social impact is bad
5) Other situations that seriously endanger social order.
Why is Cai Xukun's report not a "serious endangerment to social order"?
Zhang Zi told the uncle that this discretion rested with the public security organs. The "Opinions" stipulate that:Where the victim or his close relatives report online insult or defamation to the public security organs, and upon review the public security organs find that a crime has been constituted but does not meet the requirements for public prosecution, they may inform the person making the report to initiate a private prosecution in the people's court.
What is the difference between defamation and defamation?
Zhang Zi told the uncle that the Civil Code is an empowerment law, the Criminal Law is a guarantee law, and any civil tort on the Civil Code may rise to the level of a criminal offense, damage the reputation of others, and the circumstances are serious, in line with the provisions of Article 246 of the Criminal Law, it will be convicted and punished.
The Criminal Law stipulates that whoever publicly insults another person or fabricates facts to slander another person by violence or other means, and the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, short-term detention, controlled release or deprivation of political rights.
In other words, reputation infringement can only apologize and compensate for losses, which belongs to the civil category, while *** will go to jail, and the biggest difference between the two is the degree.
In addition, there is an intermediate degree, if it does not constitute a crime, but meets the provisions of the Public Security Administration Punishment Law, it can be classified as "administrative punishment".
What kind of "homework" can corporate crisis public relations copy from the Zheng Qiang and Cai Xukun incidents?
Uncle personally believes that there are at least 3 points:
First, the state has recently paid great attention to the punishment of online violence, which is also a good time for enterprises to respond to online public opinion!Both the corporate public relations department and the legal department should carefully study the above-mentioned Opinions, which specifically address online violence. Uncle put the relevant link at the end of the article, please take it yourself.
Second,If a company wants to have the public security authorities directly initiate a public prosecution and file a case in response to online violence, it needs to look for behaviors related to "serious harm to social order", and the more consistent the better.
Third, when an enterprise encounters cyber violence and initiates a private prosecution with the public security organ or the people's court, there are three ways for the enterprise to file a lawsuit, namely: civil litigation (to the court), public security regulations (to the public security), and criminal litigation (to the public security or the court).
Uncle suggested, the company called the policeIt should be the first choice, so that the rumor-mongers can really have a punishment effect, and it is also more conducive to the follow-up use of public channels such as ** to restore the reputation of the enterprise, but correspondingly, the requirements for evidence collection are higher
Finally, if you are the head of brand public relations of a company, I hope you will learn how to maintain your company's reputation by calling the police after reading this article, rather than just using the police as a "cover" to scare the outside world.
If you have more opinions, you are welcome to add them in the message area.
References: Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuratorate, Ministry of Public Security.
Guiding Opinions on Lawfully Punishing Online Violence Violations and Crimes.
The elements of online defamation constitute ***, and the interpretation of the "two supremes" on the use of information network defamation.
Cai Xukun's alarm receipt form, what key information is coded?
How to defend your rights if you are cyberbullied.
Uncle internal referral: [Uncle internal referral] Senior public relations manager of a well-known social app (up to 55k months, Shanghai).
This article is supported by "135 Editor", and the "Almighty Uncle" emoji pack is originally produced by "Flash".