Not long ago, a 13-year-old minor opened a box for a pregnant woman online, bringing online violence and personal information security issues back into the public eye. Opening boxes and hanging people "is a new type of online violent criminal behavior. "Opening the box" mainly refers to malicious disclosure of other people's names, ID number, mobile phone numbers, home addresses and other information. Hanging people "refers to posting the above information on social media platforms. These personal information are usually collected through illegal means, and the "box openers" hide behind the internet. After the victims' personal information is released, they often face insults, insults, rumors, and defamation from netizens, and are also harassed in their daily lives. From the relevant cases we have learned, there are both minors who become victims of online violence such as' unboxing ', as well as minors who expose others' private information and engage in online violence such as' unboxing'. ”The head of the Research Office of the Supreme People's Court recently stated in an interview with a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Network that minors have weak awareness and ability to use the internet safely, and are more susceptible to the intrusion of cyberbullying information and the accompanying mental pressure, becoming targets of cyberbullying. On the other hand, minors have relatively weak cognitive and control abilities over their own behavior, and are easily influenced by negative online information, making them easy perpetrators and participants of online violence. The Supreme People's Court's work report this year shows that the judiciary continues to crack down on behaviors such as "opening boxes and hanging people". The judiciary safeguards the integrity of the internet and continues to strictly punish online violent crimes. In 2024, the people's court convicted and sentenced 292 people for infringing on citizens' personal information, and 91 people for insulting and defaming, a year-on-year decrease of 22.3% and 32% respectively. The head of the Supreme People's Court Research Office introduced to reporters from China Youth Daily and China Youth Network that these cases of online violent crimes have commonalities: firstly, the social harm is serious, and online violent information spreads and ferments at "internet speed", causing great mental pressure on victims, often leading to "social death" or even serious consequences such as mental disorders and suicide, seriously affecting the public's sense of security. Secondly, it is difficult to obtain evidence on one's own. The virtual and anonymous nature of cyberspace, coupled with the massive and rapid dissemination of online information, often makes it difficult for victims of cyberbullying to trace their information sources and identify their diffusion paths on their own, resulting in high costs of evidence collection and facing the dilemma of safeguarding their rights. The third is the deep involvement of online "black and gray production". The chaos of online violence is largely related to the deep involvement of online "black and gray industries" and the harvesting of traffic for profit. Some malicious hype has become the trigger for online violence, and even some cyberbullying behaviors are maliciously fabricated and incited for marketing purposes. The case of Liu infringing on citizens' personal information, which was selected as a typical case of the Supreme People's Court punishing online violence crimes in accordance with the law, is a typical case of "opening boxes and hanging people", reflecting the above characteristics. Fangfang (pseudonym) is an internet anchor. One day, her phone suddenly received many harassing text messages from unfamiliar calls, as well as various internet links pushed to her by friends. Not only did it expose her personal information, but even her family's personal privacy was put on the internet. Hello, Madam Fangfang. ”Your grandfather has passed away, otherwise we will reunite your family! "" If you have free time, you can expose your personal information and address. There's nothing you can do about me! "Various forms of harassment and information continue to expand, accompanied by intimidation, curses, and verbal abuse. Fangfang chose to call the police. After investigation, this case was prosecuted by the procuratorial organ to the People's Court of Liling City, Hunan Province. The court found that this case originated from a dispute between fans and broadcasters. Liu followed Fangfang in a live streaming room and gave her a "gift" worth about 3000 yuan over the course of two years. He also transferred 8000 yuan via WeChat. Subsequently, the two had a disagreement over the "housing management" authority in the live broadcast room. Liu held a grudge and illegally obtained Fangfang's personal information through channels. She posted it on the live broadcast platform Tieba and Weibo, and Fangfang contacted Liu, hoping to negotiate a refund of 8000 yuan. Liu was still not satisfied and also posted the illegally obtained personal information of Fangfang's parents online. Liu posted my personal information everywhere, and many fans cancelled their follow. My live streaming income decreased by more than 40000 yuan in the next two months. He also came to my house and said things like 'kill me' and 'reunite my whole family', which scared my parents very much. ”Fangfang recalled that what scared her even more was: "Why can someone easily obtain my personal information, even the personal information of my family members?" After capturing Liu, the police arrested Wu, who illegally provided personal information for Liu. Wu has dozens of WeChat groups and QQ numbers. He uses forums, groups, and chat software to publish agent advertisements to find customers, and then forwards customer requests to the online "database" to obtain personal information that customers want to know, including name, gender, age, address, photo, and same household information. The court sorted out Wu's chat records on various social media platforms and 676 "customer" transfer records on his bank card. After verification, Wu handled information transactions worth over 70000 yuan and illegally profited over 10000 yuan by selling citizens' personal information. The court, taking into account the defendant's criminal circumstances, confession attitude, and other factors, sentenced the defendant Liu to ten months' imprisonment, suspended for one year, and fined 20000 yuan for the crime of infringing on citizens' personal information; The defendant Wu was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for one year and six months, and fined 20000 yuan for the crime of infringing on citizens' personal information. The judicial authorities continue to crack down on similar online bullying behaviors. The news released by the Ministry of Public Security in January this year shows that the public security organs have relied on the "Clean Net" special action to crack down on online violence, and have taken strong measures against behaviors such as "opening boxes and hanging people". In 2024, public security organs across the country handled more than 8600 cases of online violence, took criminal coercive measures against more than 2500 people in accordance with the law, and imposed administrative penalties on more than 8500 people. The work report of the Supreme People's Procuratorate shows that the procuratorial organs resolutely punish illegal crimes such as online violence, "internet water army" spreading rumors and diverting traffic, and public opinion extortion, and purify the online environment. In 2024, 2458 people were prosecuted for committing crimes of infringing on citizens' personal information through the use of the internet. In September 2023, the Supreme People's Court, together with the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security, issued the "Guiding Opinions on Punishing Internet Violence Crimes in accordance with the Law" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"), which comprehensively regulates the legal application and policy grasp of Internet violence crimes. The head of the Supreme People's Court Research Office introduced that there are practical difficulties for private prosecutors in criminal cases of insult and defamation to obtain evidence. In the past, the public prosecution standards for these two charges lacked detailed guidance, which to some extent restricted the function of the public prosecution procedure and the effectiveness of the governance of online violent crimes. In order to facilitate the criminal prosecution process and provide effective legal remedies for victims in a timely manner, Article 12 of the Opinion clarifies the public prosecution standards for online insult and defamation crimes based on the provisions of the Criminal Law and relevant judicial interpretations, in response to prominent practical issues. The Opinion also clarifies the application rules of civil injunctions for infringement of personality rights, in order to prevent the spread and fermentation of online bullying information and avoid irreparable damage. The person in charge pointed out that the people's court accurately applies the "Opinions" in accordance with the law, implements the legal provisions requiring public security organs to assist in evidence collection in victim rights relief, and makes up for the insufficient evidence collection ability of victims in private prosecution cases. At the same time, for cases of online insult and defamation crimes that meet the criteria of "seriously endangering social order", the public prosecution procedure is applied in accordance with the law to effectively relieve victims. The people's court focuses on punishing organizers, malicious promoters, and persistent offenders of online violence, and imposes severe punishments on those who organize "water armies" or "thugs" to commit online violence against minors and people with disabilities in accordance with the law. At the same time, more attention should be paid to consolidating the main responsibility of the network platform. For online platforms that violate legal provisions and fail to fulfill their network security management obligations, the court shall order them to bear civil compensation or public welfare liability, and if they constitute the crime of refusing to fulfill their information network security management obligations, they shall be held criminally responsible. In addition, there is a greater emphasis on long-term and comprehensive governance. The people's courts promote the purification of the online ecosystem and effectively prevent the source of online violence by issuing judicial recommendations and conducting legal publicity; We will strengthen the governance system for online violence that does not constitute a crime by supporting civil rights protection and administrative penalties in accordance with the law. In 2020, a high school student named Li in Beijing suddenly discovered that a video insulting her had appeared on a social media platform. The video not only contained her personal information such as portrait, name, and WeChat account, but also contained rumors and advertisements for soliciting prostitution. This video quickly spread on this social media platform, with over 30000 views in one day. Until the next day, due to complaints from other victims, the platform took down the video, which had already received over 40000 views. Originally, Huang had a conflict with Li over trivial matters during his school studies. Huang entrusted another classmate Liu to create the aforementioned video through social media. As both Huang and Liu are minors, with the consent of Li and his guardian, the public security organs did not handle them as administrative or criminal cases. Li Moumou believed that a technology company in Beijing, as a network service provider of the software involved in the case, should bear joint and several liability for infringement and sue the Beijing Internet Court to claim compensation for mental damages and reasonable expenses. On June 13, 2024, the Beijing Internet Court ruled that the defendant, a technology company, would compensate the plaintiff, Li, 8000 yuan for mental damages and 2000 yuan for attorney fees. After the verdict was pronounced, neither party appealed and the verdict has taken legal effect. Yan Jun, the presiding judge of the case and the president of the Third Comprehensive Trial Division (Juvenile Court) of Beijing Internet Court, told the reporter of Zhongqing Daily and Zhongqing. com that the video involved in the case was directed at minors. When determining whether the Internet service provider should bear civil liability, it should adhere to the principle of "maximizing the interests of minors", and judge by combining the service nature of the Internet service provider and the processing of information, the type and apparent degree of information infringement involved, the amount of browsing and the scope of influence, the ability to manage information and the situation of taking reasonable preventive measures. In this case, the video involved in the case contains clear and recent photos of Li's face. From the facial features, it can be inferred that the possibility of the information subject being a minor is high. The video used extremely vulgar and vulgar language to insult and attack female minors, and also disclosed Li's real name, WeChat ID and other personal information, with extremely defamatory language attached, which may even be mistaken for "soliciting prostitution". The information involved in the case not only poses a risk of human flesh search and invasion of private life and privacy, but is also clearly a pornographic rumor that seriously infringes on the social reputation of female minors. The infringing content is obvious and easy to judge. Due to the vulnerability of minors to infringement, the instantaneous and widespread nature of online dissemination, and the difficulty in remedying personality rights once infringed upon, internet service providers should fulfill a higher duty of care when reviewing illegal information that seriously infringes on the rights and interests of minors, such as personal privacy and sexual rumors. For the aforementioned infringing information with skyrocketing views in a short period of time, if the network service provider fails to take necessary measures to handle it in a timely manner, it shall bear joint and several liability with the network user in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Civil Code. ”Yan Jun said that it is difficult for victims of online violence to notify the platform to delete them one by one, and he hopes to promote the platform through individual case judgments