Criminal Law Boundaries for Freedom of Speech in the Online Era

网络时代言论自由的刑法边界（英文）

Demarcating the boundary between the constitutional right to freedom of speech and online speech crime is a major task before Chinese judiciary.In defining speech crime,we need to draw distinctions between facts and opinions;public and private affairs;and subjective and objective reality.Under the reasonable belief rule,“subjective reality”must be treated as justifiable cause.Given the technological applications and social nature of online media,internet service providers are only obliged to be neutral;they must not indiscriminately be deemed to be guilty of being accomplices or of the crime of nonperformance.In litigation involving speech crime,criminal proceedings must,in principle,be launched on the basis of the actual or presumed wishes of the victim.When a speech act seriously jeopardizes social order and the national interest but the victim is unable to determine whether to lay a charge,a direct public prosecution may be carried out.Finding someone guilty of“seriously jeopardizing law and order and the national interest”must be based on real,material disruption of order and on the fact that the suspect acted deliberately with no legitimate purpose.Minor speech crimes must not be indiscriminately subjected to fixed-term imprisonment,and social media tools serve routine purposes and should not be confiscated without good reason.

如何划分宪法赋予公民的言论自由权利与网络时代言论型犯罪的界限,是当下司法实务面临的重要问题。在言论型犯罪的构造中,应纳入事实与观点二分法、公事与私事二分法、客观真实与主观真实二分法,将合理确信规则下的"主观真实"作为违法阻却事由;基于网络媒介的科技特点与社会属性,网络服务提供者只具备中立义务,对之不应简单地以共犯理论或不作为犯罪理论予以入罪。在言论型犯罪的诉讼中,原则上须根据实际或推定的被害人意愿来启动刑事诉讼程序,当言论行为严重危害社会秩序和国家利益且被害人无法表达其是否告诉意思时,可直接适用公诉程序;"严重危害社会秩序和国家利益"等入罪基准须是现实物理的秩序混乱,且行为人要对其有故意而无任何正当目的。对轻微言论犯罪不应轻易适用有期徒刑的刑罚;信息网络工具具有很大的生活用途,一般不应没收。