《反不正当竞争法》下互联网平台“封禁”行为考辨——以消费者(用户)合法权益保护为中心

Research on the “Blocking” of Internet Platform under the Anti Unfair Competition Law:Focusing on the Protection of Consumers’ Legitimate Rights and Interests

在我国"封禁"或"封杀"不是专门的法律术语,在实践中互联网领域的"封禁"或"封杀"被运用于多种场合,其中对互联网平台"封禁"用户分享链接行为的正当性之探讨,有必要关注分享链接行为发生的具体场景、分享行为是否由用户自主发起等因素来判断。具体而言,当互联网平台"封禁"用户自主分享相关经营者所提供的链接时,需重点考察"封禁"行为影响的用户范围,该行为发生频次以及实践发生的竞争效果等,特别是消费者合法权益实现的难易度。从现行《反不正当竞争法》立法目的、互联网专条设置以及相关司法实践看,对平台"封禁"用户自主分享链接行为的正当性辨识,应将重心放在平台是否出于"恶意"妨碍或限制市场竞争秩序的运行及用户合法权益的实现上。当然对"恶意"的认定或者推定,仍须回到维护市场竞争秩序的具体行为及效果的判定上,综合评判在合理时间内平台合法权益、其他经营者合法权益以及消费者合法权益的动态平衡关系。

In the Internet field, "blocking" is used in many occasions, but it is not yet a clearly defined legal term. Specifically under the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law", to judge the legality of the platform’s "blocking" behavior, it is necessary to distinguish whether the sharing behavior is initiated by the user independently. Considering the wide range of users affected by relevant behaviors, similar behaviors are repetitive and may affect the fair competition order, it is necessary to apply the Anti-Unfair Competition Law to regulate related behaviors. From the legislative purpose, relevant provisions and judicial practice of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, to identify whether it is illegal for the platform operator to prevent users from sharing specific links autonomously, it is important to investigate whether the operator is "malicious". The judgment of "maliciousness" should eventually comply with the criterion of maintaining competition order, comprehensively considering the legal rights and interests of platform operators, other operators, and consumers.