Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 16-The the State Council Press Office released a white paper entitled "China’s Network Rule of Law Construction in the New Era" on March 16. The full text is as follows:
The Construction of Network Rule of Law in China in the New Era
(March 2023)
People’s Republic of China (PRC)
the State Council Information Office
catalogue
foreword
First, unswervingly follow the road of governing the internet according to law
Second, consolidate the legal foundation of cyberspace
(A) the establishment of a legal system for the protection of network rights and interests
(2) Improve the rule of law in the digital economy
(3) Delineating the legal red line of network security
(D) Improve the norms of network ecological governance
Third, ensure that cyberspace is standardized and orderly.
(1) Protecting the rights and interests of personal information
(B) the protection of network intellectual property rights
(C) standardize the order of the online market
(4) Maintaining national network security
(E) Create a clear cyberspace
Fourth, defend the fairness and justice of cyberspace
(A) innovative network judicial rules
(B) explore the network judicial model
(C) safeguarding the rights and interests of online justice
Fifth, enhance the awareness and literacy of the rule of law in the whole society.
(A) to expand the "internet plus law popularization" new model.
(B) the popularization of network laws and regulations
(C) for key objects to carry out network law popularization
(D) Strengthen the research and education of network rule of law
Sixth, strengthen international exchanges and cooperation in the rule of law on the Internet.
(A) actively participate in the construction of rules
(2) Conduct extensive exchanges and cooperation.
(C) efforts to build a dialogue platform
Concluding remarks
foreword
Internet is an important achievement of the development of human civilization. While promoting economic and social development, the Internet also poses great challenges to supervision and governance. It is the common pursuit of all countries in the world to develop and manage the Internet well and make it better for the benefit of mankind. Practice has proved that the rule of law is the basic way of Internet governance. It has become a global consensus to use the concept, thinking and means of the rule of law to promote the development and governance of the Internet.
Since 1994, when it was fully connected to the Internet, China has adhered to the rule of law, continuously promoted the rule of law in cyberspace, and promoted the healthy operation of the Internet on the rule of law. In the new era, under the guidance of Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought, the supreme leader in the new era, China regards the rule of law as an important part of comprehensively governing the country according to law and building a strong network country, and strives to build a complete network legal norm system, an efficient network legal implementation system, a strict network legal supervision system and a powerful network legal guarantee system, and the network legal construction has made historic achievements. Network legislation, network law enforcement, network judicature, network law popularization, and network rule of law education have been promoted as a whole, with the participation of the state, government, enterprises, social organizations, netizens and other subjects, and a road of governing the network according to law that conforms to international common practices and has China characteristics has been developed. The construction of network rule of law in China has not only effectively enhanced China’s Internet governance capacity, but also contributed China wisdom and China’s plan to global Internet governance.
This white paper is issued in order to comprehensively introduce the construction of network rule of law in China and share the experience and practices of network rule of law in China.
First, unswervingly follow the road of governing the internet according to law
China conforms to the general trend of global informatization development, based on the practice of Internet development in China, integrates the construction of network rule of law into the strategic layout of comprehensively governing the country according to law, continuously deepens its understanding of the regularity of governing the network according to law, develops in exploration and persists in development, and has embarked on a road of network rule of law with China characteristics.
-persist in taking the people as the center. China’s network rule of law construction adheres to the people’s dominant position, condenses the wisdom and strength of the overwhelming majority of the people, and implements the embodiment of people’s interests, the reflection of people’s wishes, the maintenance of people’s rights and interests, and the promotion of people’s well-being in all aspects of the whole process of network rule of law construction, such as legislation, law enforcement, judicature, and law popularization. Effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the people in cyberspace, strengthen cyberspace governance according to law, fully respect the rights of netizens to exchange ideas and express opinions, resolutely crack down on illegal and criminal activities in cyberspace, build a good order in cyberspace, and create a safe, fair, healthy, civilized and clear cyberspace.
-Persist in promoting the development of the Internet. The essence of administering the Internet according to law is to provide guarantee for the healthy and orderly development of the Internet, not to constrain the development of the Internet. China will take the rule of law as the basic means, improve the digital economy governance system, enhance the level of legalization of digital government construction, promote the construction of digital society according to law, and lead, standardize and guarantee the high-quality development of digital China construction. Adhere to the simultaneous advancement of development and security, build a strong network security defense line, ensure development with security, promote security with development, and promote the Internet as the biggest variable to become the biggest increment of social and economic development.
-adhere to the national conditions. China’s network rule of law construction is based on the basic national conditions that China is the largest developing country in the world and the largest number of netizens. In view of the actual situation of China’s huge number of netizens, numerous enterprise platforms and rich product formats, it adapts to the characteristics of multiple legal subjects, diverse legal relationships and changeable legal application scenarios, insists on handling the relationship between development and security, freedom and order, openness and autonomy, management and service, deeply studies the frontier and overall major issues of network rule of law, and uses the rule of law thinking and methods to solve the bottleneck restricting the development of the Internet.
-Adhere to innovation. The Internet is born and prospered by innovation, and the rule of law on the Internet needs innovation in particular. China fully grasps the unprecedented arduousness and complexity of cyberspace governance, proactively responds to the risk challenges brought by new Internet technologies, new applications, new formats and new models, and promotes all-round innovations in the concept, content, methods and methods of network rule of law. Improve and innovate the rules of new technologies and new fields such as algorithms and blockchains, strive to fill the time gap and blank areas in important fields, establish a comprehensive network governance system, innovate the network judicial model, lead the practice of network rule of law with innovation, and comprehensively improve the efficiency of Internet governance.
-Adhere to open cooperation. China’s construction of network rule of law not only adheres to network sovereignty, but also draws on the advanced experience of network rule of law in other countries, absorbs mature foreign practices, and plans the development of China’s Internet under the background of international Internet development, thus forming an Internet governance model with both China characteristics and international practices. Actively participate in the formulation of international rules in cyberspace, carry out international exchanges and cooperation in the field of cyber rule of law, and work together with countries around the world to establish a multilateral, democratic and transparent global Internet governance system.
In the new era, China’s network rule of law construction, based on its own development reality, draws lessons from foreign advanced experience, dares to explore, be honest and innovative, and has embarked on a road of managing the network with its own characteristics, and has made a series of remarkable achievements, which has made important contributions to the construction of a strong network, the comprehensive rule of law and the party’s governance of the country under the conditions of informationization.
—— It provides a strong guarantee for the network power to move towards a network power. The construction of China as a network power has made great progress towards the basic popularization of network infrastructure, remarkable enhancement of independent innovation capability, all-round development of digital economy, strong network security guarantee and balanced network attack and defense strength, and has made great achievements. The number of netizens ranks first in the world, and the development of the mobile Internet of Things has achieved "superman", building the world’s largest and technologically advanced fiber-optic broadband and mobile communication network, and 5G has achieved comprehensive leadership in technology, industry and application. The digital economy has a strong development momentum. In 2021, the scale of the digital economy reached 45.5 trillion yuan, ranking second in the world. New Internet technologies are deeply applied in the fields of education, employment, social security, medical and health care, sports, housing, transportation, helping the disabled and providing for the elderly, etc. internet plus operates healthily according to law, forming the largest and most vibrant digital society in the world.
-promoting the comprehensive implementation of the rule of law in cyberspace. China adheres to the principle of governing the country according to law, applies it to cyberspace, deeply implements the construction plan of China ruled by law, constantly promotes the construction of network rule of law, adheres to scientific legislation, strict law enforcement, fair justice and law-abiding for the whole people, and deepens the practice of rule of law in Socialism with Chinese characteristics in cyberspace. The basic construction of "four beams and eight pillars" in network legislation has enriched and improved the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics. Network law enforcement has been continuously strengthened, and network violations have been severely cracked down. The network ecology and network order have continued to improve, promoting a safer and more harmonious social order. The rules of online judicial adjudication are gradually improved, and the handling of online cases is constantly increasing. Fairness and justice are strongly demonstrated in cyberspace. In-depth promotion of network law popularization, respect for law-abiding usage of law has gradually become the common pursuit and conscious action of cyberspace, and the people’s awareness and literacy of the rule of law have been comprehensively improved.
-Contribute China’s experience, China’s wisdom and China’s plan to global Internet governance. Cyberspace is a common space for human activities, which needs to be jointly built and governed by all countries in the world. China has been exploring scientific ways and schemes to govern the Internet according to law, and has formed a unique way to govern the Internet in China in the process of legislation, law enforcement, judicature and popularization of law, which has provided China experience for global Internet governance. China actively participated in global Internet governance, promoted the launching of many initiatives and declarations such as the G20 Digital Economy Development and Cooperation Initiative and the Global Data Security Initiative, creatively put forward the principle of cyber sovereignty, advocated that the principle of sovereign equality established in the UN Charter should be applied to cyberspace, and contributed to China’s wisdom and China’s plan.
Second, consolidate the legal foundation of cyberspace
Law is the most important instrument of governing the country, and good law is the premise of good governance. China grasps the law of Internet development, insists on scientific legislation, democratic legislation and legal legislation, and vigorously promotes the construction of network legal system. The systematization, integrity, coordination and timeliness of network legislation are constantly enhanced.
With the development of Internet, China’s network legislation has gone through the development process from scratch, from less to more, from point to surface and from surface to body. The first stage, from 1994 to 1999, was the stage of accessing the Internet. The number of Internet users and devices has increased steadily. At this stage, network legislation mainly focuses on the security of network infrastructure, that is, computer system security and networking security. The second stage, from 2000 to 2011, is the PC Internet stage. With the gradual increase in the number of computers and the gradual reduction in internet access fees, users are increasingly popular on the Internet, and network information services are developing rapidly. At this stage, network legislation turns to focus on network service management and content management. The third stage, from 2012 to now, is the mobile Internet stage. At this stage, network legislation gradually tends to comprehensively cover network information services, information development and network security protection. In this process, China has enacted more than 140 pieces of legislation in the field of network, basically forming a network legal system based on the Constitution, relying on laws, administrative regulations, departmental regulations, local regulations and local government regulations, based on traditional legislation, and focusing on network-specific legislation such as network content construction and management, network security and informatization, which has provided a solid institutional guarantee for the construction of a network power.
(A) the establishment of a legal system for the protection of network rights and interests
Scientific construction of the legal system for the protection of network rights and interests provides sufficient legal basis for realizing the all-round protection of people’s legitimate rights and interests online and offline.
Protect citizens’ freedom and privacy of communication. Freedom of communication and protection of communication secrets are prerequisites to ensure that citizens can independently express their demands and thoughts in cyberspace. As early as 1997, the Administrative Measures for the Security Protection of International Networking of Computer Information Networks was formulated to implement the constitutional protection of the basic rights of freedom of communication and communication secrets. In 2000, the Telecommunications Regulations were enacted, which stipulated that the freedom of telecom users to use telecommunications according to law and their communication secrets were protected by law. In 2016, the Regulations on Radio Management was revised to further strengthen the protection of communication secrets in the radio field and realize the all-round protection of this basic right in cyberspace.
Protect personal information rights and interests. Through civil law, criminal law and special legislation, the legal barrier of the whole chain protection of personal information rights and interests is constructed. In 2020, the Third Session of the 13th National People’s Congress deliberated and passed the Civil Code, which made systematic provisions on the protection of personal information in the civil field on the basis of previous legal provisions. In 2009 and 2015, the Criminal Law was amended to establish the crime of infringing citizens’ personal information and strengthen the criminal law protection of personal information. In the special network legislation, the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on Strengthening the Protection of Network Information was passed in 2012, which clearly protects electronic information that can identify citizens’ personal identity and involve citizens’ personal privacy. In 2016, the Cyber Security Law was enacted to further improve the rules for the protection of personal information. In 2021, the personal information protection law was enacted, the principles of personal information protection and rules of personal information processing were refined and improved, the activities of state organs in handling personal information were regulated according to law, the personal information subjects were given many rights, the obligations of personal information processors were strengthened, the working mechanism of personal information protection was improved, and strict legal responsibilities were set, so that the level of personal information protection was comprehensively improved.
Protect citizens’ property. We will continue to strengthen legislative protection and curb the use of the Internet to infringe on property rights and interests. In 2018, the e-commerce law was promulgated, stipulating that the goods sold or services provided by e-commerce operators should meet the requirements of protecting personal and property safety. The Civil Code clearly stipulates that the acts of infringing upon other people’s property rights and interests through the Internet should bear corresponding legal responsibilities. In 2022, the anti-telecommunication network fraud law was promulgated, which provided strong legal support for cracking down on telecommunication network fraud activities and effectively safeguarded people’s property rights and interests.
Guarantee the digital rights of special groups. Through multi-level and multi-dimensional legislation, the digital divide of special groups such as minors, the elderly and the disabled can be bridged, so that they can be more equally and widely integrated into the digital society and enjoy the dividend of the digital age. The cyber security law stipulates that the state supports the research and development of online products and services that are conducive to the healthy growth of minors, and punishes the use of the Internet to engage in activities that endanger the physical and mental health of minors according to law. In 2019, the Regulations on the Protection of Children’s Personal Information Network was formulated to protect children’s personal information rights and interests. In 2020, the Law on the Protection of Minors will be revised to make special provisions on strengthening the education of minors’ network literacy, strengthening the supervision of minors’ network content, strengthening the protection of minors’ personal information and the prevention and control of internet addiction, so as to protect minors’ legitimate rights and interests on the Internet. The Data Security Law was promulgated in 2021, which requires that the provision of intelligent public services should fully consider the needs of the elderly and the disabled, and avoid creating obstacles to their daily lives.
(2) Improve the rule of law in the digital economy
Constantly improve the data infrastructure system, maintain the order of the digital market, standardize the new format and new model of the digital economy, provide a good institutional foundation for the healthy development of the digital economy, and help the economy shift from high-speed growth to high-quality development.
Promote the construction of a data-based system. Pay attention to the role of data as the basic resource and innovation engine. The Data Security Law provides for the implementation of big data strategy, support for data-related technology research and development and business innovation, promotion of data-related standard system construction, and cultivation of data trading market, so as to improve the level of data development and utilization and promote the development of digital economy with data as the key element.
Clarify the operating system of digital market. Adhere to the development of the digital market in accordance with the law, resolutely oppose monopoly and unfair competition, improve digital rules, and vigorously safeguard the market environment of fair competition. The E-commerce Law comprehensively regulates the business behavior of e-commerce, clarifies the responsibilities of the operators of e-commerce platforms and those in the platforms, and requires the e-commerce operators with dominant market position not to abuse their dominant market position to exclude or restrict competition and maintain a fair market competition order. In 2013, the Law on the Protection of Consumers’ Rights and Interests was revised, and the system of "seven days no reason to return goods" for online shopping was established, so as to strengthen the main responsibility of network operators for consumer rights protection. In 2017, the Anti-Unfair Competition Law was revised, and Internet articles were added to prohibit the use of technical means to engage in unfair competition. In 2021, the Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Online Transactions was formulated to refine the relevant provisions of the e-commerce law and further improve the system of online transaction supervision. In 2021, the Anti-monopoly Guide of the State Council Anti-monopoly Committee on Platform Economy was issued, and the anti-monopoly supervision was strengthened and improved according to the development status, characteristics and laws of platform economy. In 2022, the anti-monopoly law was amended to improve the anti-monopoly system of platform economy, stipulating that operators should not engage in monopolistic behaviors prohibited by the law by using data and algorithms, technology, capital advantages and platform rules.
Standardize the new format and new mode of digital economy. The rapid emergence of new formats and new models of digital economy has brought great impetus and potential to economic and social development, but also posed new challenges to social governance and industrial development. China focuses on specific areas and special problems of new business forms and new models, and insists on combining "big-headed" legislation with "small-quick-acting" legislation to prevent and resolve risks. The Civil Code improves the rules for the conclusion and performance of electronic contracts, and brings data and network virtual property into the scope of legal protection to promote the development of digital economy. Interim Measures for the Administration of Online Taxi Reservation Service, Provisions for the Administration of Internet Information Service Algorithm Recommendation, Provisions for the Administration of Blockchain Information Service, Interim Measures for the Administration of Business Activities of Information Intermediaries in peer-to-peer lending, Interim Provisions for the Administration of Online Tourism Service, etc., standardize new technologies and new formats such as online car rental, algorithms, blockchain, internet finance, online travel, etc., and enrich the legal basis for the governance of internet plus in various fields.
(3) Delineating the legal red line of network security
Network security is a new topic and new content of national security, and it has become a major issue concerning the overall situation. By enacting national security law, network security law, data security law and other laws, China has systematically established a network security legal system, enhanced its network security defense capability, and effectively responded to network security risks.
Establish network security rules. In 1994, the Regulations on the Security Protection of Computer Information Systems was promulgated, and the security protection system and security supervision system of computer information systems were established. In 2000, "the NPC Standing Committee’s Decision on Maintaining Internet Security" was issued, which divided Internet security into Internet operation security and Internet information security, and established a trinity network security responsibility system framework of civil responsibility, administrative responsibility and criminal responsibility. The network security law clearly maintains the systems of network operation security, network products and services security, network data security and network information security. "Network Security Review Measures" and "Regulations on the Management of Network Product Security Vulnerabilities" further refine the relevant systems of the network security law. Through years of hard work, a set of systematic and comprehensive legal rules for network security has been initially formed, so as to improve the national network security guarantee ability through system construction.
Ensure the security of key information infrastructure. Key information infrastructure is the nerve center of economic and social operation and the top priority of network security. Ensuring the security of key information infrastructure is of great significance for safeguarding national network sovereignty and national security, ensuring healthy economic and social development, and safeguarding public interests and citizens’ legitimate rights and interests. In 2021, the Regulations on the Security Protection of Key Information Infrastructure was formulated, which clarified the scope of key information infrastructure and the principles and objectives of protection work, improved the identification mechanism of key information infrastructure, and made specific provisions for key information infrastructure operators to implement network security responsibilities, establish and improve network security protection systems, set up specialized security management institutions, carry out security monitoring and risk assessment, and standardize the procurement activities of network products and services, providing legal basis for accelerating the improvement of the security protection capabilities of key information infrastructure.
Construct the legal system of data security management. Based on the reality of data security work, focusing on outstanding problems in the field of data security, we will strengthen data security protection through legislation and enhance the national data security guarantee capability. The Data Security Law clearly establishes and improves the systems of data classification and classification protection, risk monitoring, early warning and emergency response, and data security review, and makes provisions for supporting measures to promote data security and development, and promoting the security and opening of government data, so as to ensure development with security and promote security with development.
(D) Improve the norms of network ecological governance
Cyberspace is the common spiritual home of hundreds of millions of people. Cyberspace is clear and the ecology is good, which is the people’s beautiful yearning for online homes. With the attitude of being responsible to society and people, China takes the content of network information as the main regulatory object, establishes and improves the legal norms of comprehensive network management, and continuously purifies cyberspace.
Standardize the order of network information dissemination. Facing the worldwide problem of network information governance, laws and regulations such as the Civil Code, the Network Security Law, and the Measures for the Administration of Internet Information Services have been formulated to clarify the norms of network information content dissemination and the responsibilities of relevant subjects, providing a legal basis for the governance of illegal information that endangers national security, harms public interests and infringes on the legitimate rights and interests of others.
Create a legal weapon against cyber terrorism. Resolutely curb the threat of terrorism in cyberspace according to law. The Criminal Law, the Criminal Procedure Law, the Anti-Money Laundering Law and other laws have stipulated the criminal responsibility of terrorist crimes, the litigation procedures for punishing terrorist crimes, and the monitoring of terrorist-related funds. In 2015, the anti-terrorism law was enacted to make special provisions on the objects, measures and mechanisms of cyber counter-terrorism.
Third, ensure that cyberspace is standardized and orderly.
Strict law enforcement is the key link of managing the internet according to law. China adheres to strict and standardized fair and civilized network law enforcement, strengthens law enforcement in key areas related to people’s vital interests, comprehensively protects people’s legitimate rights and interests, safeguards social public interests, promotes the formation of a healthy and standardized cyberspace order, and creates a clear network ecology.
(1) Protecting the rights and interests of personal information
With the rapid development of digital economy, illegal activities such as illegal collection, sale, use and disclosure of personal information are increasing day by day, which seriously infringes on people’s personal and property safety and affects the normal social and economic order. Personal information protection is not only related to the legitimate rights and interests of the broad masses of the people, but also related to public security governance and the development of digital economy. In view of the characteristics of personal information infringement, such as density, concealment and technicality, China has adopted new supervision ideas, methods and means, intensified the handling of illegal acts, and continued to carry out special treatment on illegal collection and use of personal information by mobile Internet applications (App), effectively rectifying the illegal handling of personal information. Since 2019, a total of 3.22 million mobile Internet applications have been tested, and nearly 3,000 illegal mobile Internet applications have been notified and removed. Through special treatment, violations of laws and regulations against users’ personal information rights and interests have been effectively curbed, the awareness of personal information protection has been significantly enhanced, the compliance level of personal information protection has been significantly improved, and a good situation in which the whole society respects and protects personal information rights and interests has taken shape.
(B) the protection of network intellectual property rights
Strengthening the protection of network intellectual property rights is the key to support network scientific and technological innovation. The continuous emergence of new technologies and applications makes the means of online intellectual property infringement more hidden, more diverse and cheaper, and law enforcement faces problems such as difficulty in tracing the source, obtaining evidence and implementing it. China continues to explore and accurately grasp the characteristics and laws of the creation, protection and application of intellectual property rights under the network environment, and continuously strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights on the network by establishing and improving the supervision mechanism, building a new pattern of social co-governance of intellectual property protection, promoting the establishment of a cooperation mechanism for intellectual property protection on the platform, and launching special actions to crack down on online infringement and piracy. Promote online and offline integrated law enforcement, strike hard, and severely crack down on online trademark infringement and patent counterfeiting. Regularly organize and carry out law enforcement activities such as the "Sword Net" special action to crack down on online infringement and piracy, the centralized action to crack down on the illegal recording and dissemination of cinema films, and the special rectification of copyright in key markets, severely crack down on all kinds of infringement and piracy, and focus on rectifying the copyright order in key areas and key markets. During the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympic Winter Games, we launched a centralized campaign for copyright protection in the Winter Olympics, and promoted the online platform to delete more than 110,000 infringing links related to the Winter Olympics. After years of law enforcement, the protection environment of online intellectual property rights has been significantly improved.
(C) standardize the order of the online market
The rapid rise of the online market has played an important role in stabilizing the economy, promoting consumption, ensuring employment and benefiting the people. China actively explores the law enforcement mode suitable for the new format of the online market, and helps the healthy and sustainable development of the online market through a series of actions, such as standardizing the development of fair competition in the market and cracking down on illegal new trading behaviors.
Network market environment to ensure fair competition. With the continuous expansion of the size and strength of network platform enterprises, the problems that hinder fair competition in the market, such as "pinching mergers and acquisitions", blocking links without justifiable reasons, "choosing one from the other", killing big data and traffic hijacking, have gradually become prominent. China actively responded to the people’s demands, while supporting the innovative development of online platform enterprises, standardized and guided the healthy development of capital according to law, and adopted various law enforcement measures to control the disorderly competition of platforms. Focus on key issues such as price fraud and low-price dumping on large-scale online platforms, and rectify monopoly and unfair competition through various regulatory means such as administrative interviews, administrative guidance, and rule guidance. Focusing on key industries such as people’s livelihood, finance, science and technology, media, etc., we will review cases involving the concentration of platform operators according to law, prevent mergers and acquisitions that may hinder market competition and innovation and development, guide online platform enterprises to enhance their awareness of compliance, and standardize their own business practices. Through a series of actions, the market environment of platform economy has been continuously optimized, the industry ecology of fair competition has steadily improved, small and medium-sized enterprises have gained broader development space, and a unified, open, fair, competitive and orderly network competition environment is taking shape.
Standardize online trading activities. It is an inevitable requirement to create a good network market environment and safeguard the rights and interests of the majority of online trading entities to make online trading activities run in a standardized way. Carry out the "Net Sword Action", focus on the illegal activities of selling infringing, fake and shoddy goods online, and crack down on illegal online trading of wild animals and plants and their products. Strictly implement the responsibility of the network platform and strengthen the supervision of Internet advertising. In view of the new forms of online transactions such as "live broadcast with goods" and micro-store marketing, we will strictly control the network solicitation channels and investigate and deal with a number of users of websites and platforms suspected of violating the law. Carry out special actions against online pyramid schemes, and focus on cracking down on online shopping pyramid schemes, online investment and wealth management pyramid schemes, and online entrepreneurial pyramid schemes. Through a series of law enforcement, online trading activities in key areas, key subjects and key forms have been effectively regulated.
(4) Maintaining national network security
Building a strong network security defense line is an important premise and foundation for the healthy development of the Internet. China continues to carry out safety law enforcement work in the fields of network basic resources, important network systems and network data, effectively preventing and resolving security risks, and systematically building a security environment in the network era. In the field of network basic resources, strengthen the management of basic resources such as websites, domain names and IP addresses, and strengthen security by strengthening the construction of technical means and improving early warning mechanisms. In the field of important network systems, we will deepen the security protection of network systems, continuously monitor network security threats, and effectively prevent major security incidents such as large-scale service attacks on network systems. In the field of network data, improve the ability of data security protection and supervision, and strengthen data security law enforcement in the fields of industrial Internet, vehicle networking and 5G applications by establishing a security monitoring system and implementing classified management.
(E) Create a clear cyberspace
Focusing on the new expectations and requirements of the people, we will standardize the order of network information dissemination and rectify all kinds of network ecological chaos. Focus on the prominent problems that the people have strongly reflected, such as obscenity and pornography on the Internet, false information, cyber violence, and algorithm abuse, and continue to carry out a series of special actions of "cleaning the net" and "clearing up", and take various measures such as interviewing, ordering correction, warning, suspending information updates, and fines for website platforms that disseminate all kinds of illegal and illegal information. Supervise the website platform to perform the main responsibility, manage the information released by users according to the law, establish a complaint and report mechanism for network information security, and form a joint effort of governance. The network ecology has been continuously optimized, the quality of network civilization in the whole society has been effectively improved, and the network environment has been effectively purified.
Adhere to the priority protection and special protection for minors, and build a good environment for minors to surf the Internet. By carrying out actions such as "protecting seedlings" and special treatment of minors’ network environment, we will focus on rectifying problems such as illegal network and bad information, addiction to online games, and bad social networking, so as to purify minors’ network environment. Strengthen the network safety education of minors, punish the activities that endanger the physical and mental health of minors by using the network according to law, form a multi-faceted protection force of families, schools and society, and create a good and safe network environment for minors.
Fourth, defend the fairness and justice of cyberspace
Fair justice is the last line of defense to maintain social fairness and justice. China adheres to judicial justice and justice for the people, actively responds to the judicial needs in the network era, empowers traditional justice by using network information technology, improves network judicial rules, innovates network judicial mode, solves new network disputes according to law, combats cyber crimes, protects the rights and interests of cyberspace subjects, and enables people to obtain more fair, just, open, transparent, efficient, convenient and universal judicial services.
(A) innovative network judicial rules
With the rapid development of new technologies, new applications and new formats on the Internet, the legal relationships carried by cyberspace are richer and more diverse, which brings new challenges to the judicial guarantee of cyberspace, and it is necessary to construct more perfect network judicial rules. China promptly formulated civil and criminal judicial interpretations in the fields of online intellectual property rights, personality rights, online transactions, unfair online competition, and telecommunication network fraud. Through the trial of a large number of new types of judicial cases involving network infrastructure security, algorithm rules, data ownership transactions, personal information protection, network platform governance, etc., the applicable standards of laws are refined, and the standards of adjudication are unified, and the rules of cyberspace, behavioral norms, rights boundaries and responsibilities and obligations are increasingly clear. Rules for online litigation, online mediation and online operation of people’s courts were formulated, rules for electronic data evidence were refined, procedures for handling cybercrime cases were standardized, and a system of rules for online judicial procedures was gradually established. The systematization and systematization of online judicial rules provide rules guidance and system guarantee for online judicial work, so that online justice has rules to follow.
(B) explore the network judicial model
Actively explore new paths, new fields and new modes of deep integration of judicial activities and network technology, so as to "speed up" social justice. Actively promote the deep application of big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, blockchain and other modern technologies in litigation services, trial execution, judicial management and other fields, and try to build a network judicial model with China characteristics first. Encourage local courts to adapt to local conditions, combine the development of local Internet industry and the characteristics of online disputes, and explore new Internet trial mechanisms with regional characteristics. Internet courts in Hangzhou, Beijing and Guangzhou have been set up one after another to explore the implementation of "online trial of online cases". Vigorously promote digital procuratorial work, adhere to the legal supervision of big data empowerment, systematically integrate all kinds of case-handling data, actively explore the construction of big data legal supervision model and platform, and strive to promote the combination of case-handling supervision and case-based governance supervision to improve quality and efficiency for legal supervision in the new era. The new model of network justice marks the further development and perfection of Socialism with Chinese characteristics’s judicial system in the network field, and has gradually become a bright business card of China’s judicial system.
(C) safeguarding the rights and interests of online justice
China actively carries out online judicial activities, resolutely cracks down on illegal and criminal activities on the Internet, and strives to make people feel fair and just in every judicial case.
Strengthen the judicial protection of citizens’ network civil rights and interests. Handle civil and commercial cases in the fields of personal information protection, online intellectual property rights, online transactions, online infringement, etc. according to law, and protect the network civil rights and interests of all parties. In terms of personal information protection, we focus on online platforms that handle large-scale personal information, file civil public interest lawsuits against online platforms that infringe citizens’ personal information, clarify the rules and boundaries of commercial use of users’ personal information through case trials, and urge online platform enterprises to collect and use data legally and legally. In terms of network intellectual property protection, for cases involving patents, layout design of integrated circuits, technical secrets, computer software, etc., we will explore the introduction of the technical investigator system and gradually build a "protective fence" to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of citizens in cyberspace.
Increase the punishment of cyber crimes. With the rapid development of Internet technology, traditional crimes have accelerated to non-contact crimes with the Internet as the medium, and network-related crimes such as telecommunication network fraud, online gambling and online obscenity and pornography are frequent. China handles new cybercrime cases according to law. For many years, the "Net Action" was launched to severely crack down on illegal and criminal activities such as hacking, damage and infringement of citizens’ personal information, which were strongly reflected by the masses. We will continue to carry out special actions such as "Yun Jian", "Cut off the card", "Cut off the flow" and "Pull out the nails", crack down on telecommunication network fraud crimes such as routine loans, campus loans, "housing for the elderly" and "investment for the elderly", and punish the black and gray industry that provides services such as Internet access, domain name registration, server hosting, mobile Internet application development, online payment, drainage and promotion for telecommunication network fraud criminal gangs according to law. We will improve the national anti-fraud big data platform and anti-fraud mobile Internet application programs, build a national fraud-related black sample database, and improve the quick stop payment freezing mechanism and the fraud-related fund return mechanism. Resolutely crack down on online gambling crimes and strictly control online obscenity and pornography. Cybercrime control has achieved remarkable results, people’s sense of security has been effectively improved, and society has become more harmonious and stable.
Explore the new path of network judicial protection for minors. Focusing on punishing and preventing cyber crimes, we will accurately crack down on cyber crimes such as "obscenity from a distance" in accordance with the law, and increase the crackdown and punishment on cyber fraud crimes targeting minors. Combine punishment according to law with accurate help and education to educate and save minors involved in cyber crimes to the maximum extent. Actively promote the public welfare protection of minors in the network field, taking typical cases such as handling drug-related audio and video dissemination, infringing on minors’ personal information rights and interests, and high online rewards as a breakthrough, and promoting the network platform, society and government to jointly protect minors’ healthy network environment through various forms such as public interest litigation, procuratorial suggestions, supporting prosecution, and briefing.
Fifth, enhance the awareness and literacy of the rule of law in the whole society.
The publicity and education of network rule of law needs the participation of the whole society. With the help of the Internet, the contents, forms and means of publicity and education on the rule of law in China have been constantly innovated, the netizens’ concept of the rule of law has been comprehensively improved, the main responsibility of the network platform and the self-discipline of the industry have been effectively implemented, and respecting the law and abiding by the law has increasingly become a broad consensus and basic norm in cyberspace, and the socialist spirit of the rule of law has been fully demonstrated in cyberspace.
(A) to expand the "internet plus law popularization" new model.
Internet has increasingly become a new space for people to study, work and live, a new platform for obtaining public information and services, and a new channel and means for popularizing the law. "Popularizing Law in internet plus" has transformed one-way rule of law propaganda into interactive, service-oriented and scene-oriented communication, and specialized legal terms have been transformed into popular and easy-to-understand life words and online words, and the audience’s sense of participation, experience and acquisition has been continuously improved.
Make full use of the internet to carry out publicity and education on the rule of law. Government websites and WeChat official account have set up special columns on popularizing the law, focusing on important laws and regulations such as the Constitution, the Civil Code, the National Security Law and the Cyber Security Law, as well as issues that people are concerned about, such as ecological civilization construction, food and drug safety and personal information protection, to carry out online publicity on the rule of law and popularize legal knowledge in an all-round way. Make full use of China’s "one network with two micro ends" to strengthen the construction of intelligent legal popularization platform, publicize the practical experience of China’s legal construction, push the legal popularization information, guide the whole society to establish the concept of the rule of law in which rights and obligations, individual freedom and social responsibility are unified, cultivate the awareness and code of conduct of the rule of law in finding ways to solve problems and resolving contradictions, and guide all the people to be loyal advocates, conscientious followers and firm defenders of the socialist rule of law.
Actively use online media to carry out online legal popularization activities. Internet media give full play to the advantages of content, channels and resources, and combine the needs of different groups to create a large number of online legal popularization works in various forms, such as diagrams, animations, short videos, webcasts and online music, and provide legal knowledge and interpret laws and regulations to the public through forums, blogs, microblogs, public accounts, instant messaging tools, webcasts, search engines, Q&A communities and other channels. Network popularization of law has opened up the "last mile" between popularization of law and the masses, promoted the popularization of law to be more fully integrated into market operation, community life, campus study and rural construction, and significantly improved the arrival rate, popularization rate and awareness rate of legal knowledge.
The offline legal popularization activities extend to the online. With the extensive integration of the Internet with economic and social production and life, traditional legal popularization activities such as offline lectures on the rule of law, grassroots legal popularization activities, legal consulting services, and legal literature and art exhibitions have been expanding their influence and coverage with the help of the Internet. More "key-to-key" online activities and "face-to-face" offline legal popularization, such as learning and training, micro-video competition and Internet legal knowledge contest, are integrated, complementary and complement each other, attracting more people to participate in the publicity and education of the rule of law, so that online publicity and education of the rule of law can benefit a wider social group.
(B) the popularization of network laws and regulations
Publicity and popularization of network laws and regulations is the key content of publicity and education of network rule of law. The comprehensive popularization of network laws and regulations has improved the people’s concept of network rule of law and provided important support for cultivating a healthy, progressive, civilized and rule-of-law network ecological environment.
The popularization of network laws and regulations is integrated into the whole process of network legislation. In the process of formulating network laws and regulations, such as network security law, data security law and personal information protection law, we have widely listened to and fully absorbed the opinions of citizens, legal persons and other organizations through online and offline channels, public solicitation of opinions, discussion and demonstration, etc. When the network laws and regulations are promulgated and implemented, the public will be guided to understand the network legal knowledge and abide by the network laws and regulations by holding a press conference, answering reporters’ questions and interpreting by experts, so as to build a solid mass foundation for governing the network according to law.
Popularize network laws and regulations in a timely manner in network law enforcement and judicial activities. Around the use of the Internet to spread illegal and bad information, infringement of personal information rights and interests, telecommunication network fraud, network protection for minors and other issues of concern to the people, typical cases of network rule of law were released, and the case interpretation method was concentrated. Through the four platforms of China trial process information disclosure network, China trial disclosure network, China judgment document network and China execution information disclosure network, online judicial cases are made public. People understand the knowledge of network law in a more vivid and intuitive way, and the public has changed from bystanders to participants, supporters and propagandists.
(C) for key objects to carry out network law popularization
The authority of the law comes from the people’s inner support and sincere belief. China has carried out publicity on the rule of law around young people, Internet enterprise employees and other important legal popularization targets, guided young netizens to surf the Internet in accordance with the law, in a civilized way and safely, urged Internet enterprises to operate in compliance with laws and regulations, and raised awareness of legal risk prevention.
Strengthen the publicity and education of teenagers’ online rule of law. Teenagers are the future of the motherland and the hope of the nation. The proportion of young netizens among netizens in China is increasing gradually. As the "aborigines" of the Internet, teenagers are the most active participants and practitioners in online learning, communication and life, and their legitimate rights and interests are more vulnerable to illegal activities on the Internet. Starting from protecting teenagers’ online rights and interests, promoting teenagers’ healthy growth and all-round development, China follows the law of teenagers’ physical and mental development, is close to the reality of teenagers’ study and life, and focuses on key issues such as internet addiction, cyber bullying and pornographic information on the internet. Through lively and colorful forms such as micro-variety, children’s drama, online story broadcast, online classroom, knowledge contest on learning and usage of law, vice president of rule of law coming to campus, and writing online books on law popularization, the publicity and education pattern of rule of law combining government, society, schools and families has gradually formed, which provides a comprehensive guarantee for improving the awareness of rule of law and network security literacy of young netizens.
Strengthen the awareness of Internet enterprises to operate according to law. Internet enterprises are important market players to promote the healthy development of digital economy, and law-abiding and honesty are the basic code of conduct they should abide by. China has strengthened the education and training of Internet enterprises on the rule of law, and incorporated the network laws and regulations, especially the e-commerce law, network security law, data security law, personal information protection law, anti-monopoly law, anti-unfair competition law and other laws and regulations closely related to business activities and industry development into enterprise induction training and daily training. Support Internet industry organizations to provide various forms of legal publicity and education for Internet enterprises and their employees, encourage Internet industry organizations to urge enterprises to adhere to the value orientation of paying equal attention to economic and social benefits, and guide Internet enterprises to actively fulfill their legal obligations and social responsibilities, protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers according to law, and maintain a fair competitive market environment by improving industry norms, issuing industry standards, and issuing integrity initiatives.
(D) Strengthen the research and education of network rule of law
Network legal education and network legal talents are the important support and innovation power for building a network power. Facing the major theoretical problems and talent demand in the practice of network rule of law, China has initially formed an education research and talent training mechanism that combines theory with practice and adapts to system and development, providing intellectual support and talent guarantee for the construction of network rule of law.
Comprehensively improve the research ability of network rule of law. Universities and scientific research institutions have established new think tanks for the study of network rule of law, and successively established several comprehensive research bases for network rule of law. By June, 2022, there were more than 90 online legal research institutions in China. The network think tank of rule of law gives full play to the important role of "think tank", "think tank" and "talent pool", and conducts research on frontier issues such as data, algorithms and platform governance, forming a large number of academic research results. Experts and scholars deeply participate in the activities of network rule of law, strengthen investigation and research around important planning, major legislation and key reforms of network rule of law, and put forward constructive suggestions.
Strengthen the training of talents in the field of network rule of law. China systematically integrates the education of traditional law disciplines with the education of network-related disciplines. On the basis of establishing the first-class discipline of cyberspace security, some colleges and universities offer two disciplines courses such as network and information law, digital law and artificial intelligence law. Colleges and universities independently set up undergraduate majors related to network rule of law, such as network security and law enforcement. A working team engaged in the research and teaching of network law has been set up, and interdisciplinary courses integrating legal knowledge with computer science and statistics, such as network and information security, law and artificial intelligence, network law, blockchain and electronic evidence, and legal data analysis, have been taught. A series of cutting-edge, universal and practical teaching materials in the fields of network law, calculation method, data law and personal information protection law have been compiled, and a large number of compound talents with both legal professional knowledge and technical background have been trained, which has provided a foundation for the construction of a strong network country.
Sixth, strengthen international exchanges and cooperation in the rule of law on the Internet.
Cyberspace is the common activity space of human beings. The global desire to promote the development of digital economy is the same, the challenges to deal with cyber security risks are the same, and the needs to strengthen cyberspace governance are the same. China actively carries out international exchanges and cooperation on the rule of law on the Internet, adheres to the principle of independence, complete equality and mutual respect, and participates in the reform of the global network governance system together with other countries in the world, so as to promote the global sharing of opportunities and achievements in the development of the Internet and work together to build a community of cyberspace destiny.
(A) actively participate in the construction of rules
China firmly upholds international fairness and justice, the international system with the United Nations at the core, the international order based on international law and the basic norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. Support all countries to participate in international governance of cyberspace on an equal footing, and formulate universally accepted international rules for cyberspace.
Support the role of the United Nations as the main channel in international network governance. Support the United Nations to formulate a global convention against cybercrime, propose and promote the adoption of a resolution by the United Nations General Assembly, set up an intergovernmental ad hoc expert committee, and constructively participate in the negotiation of the convention, calling for an authoritative and universal convention to be reached as soon as possible, so as to provide a legal basis for the international community to cooperate to meet the challenges of cybercrime. Pay attention to the key role of the United Nations in responding to international information security threats, and jointly submit the "International Code of Conduct for Information Security" to the United Nations with other member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and submit the updated text in 2015. Put forward the Global Data Security Initiative, and published the China-Arab Data Security Cooperation Initiative and the "China+Five Central Asian Countries" Data Security Cooperation Initiative with the League of Arab States and the five Central Asian countries in March 2021 and June 2022 respectively, providing a blueprint for discussing and formulating global data security rules. Participate in promoting the United Nations to reach a "code of conduct framework for responsible countries in cyberspace", and make it clear that important principles of international law, such as sovereign equality, peaceful settlement of disputes, prohibition of the use of force and non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs, are applicable to cyberspace, and that global and objective security standards for information technology product supply chains should be established. Expand cooperation with United Nations specialized agencies in network affairs, participate in UNESCO’s formulation of the Recommendation on Artificial Intelligence Ethics, and conduct extensive cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization in the field of domain name rule formulation and domain name dispute resolution.
Actively participate in the formation of regional network governance rules. Signed the Agreement on Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and together with other 14 member countries, formed regional rules around the fields of electronic authentication and signature, online consumer protection, online personal information protection, network security, cross-border data flow, intellectual property protection, etc. At present, the chapter on e-commerce has become the international rule on e-commerce with the widest coverage, comprehensive content and high level in the world. Actively promote the accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement, and participate in the formulation of high-standard rules in the field of digital economy.
(2) Conduct extensive exchanges and cooperation.
China has always supported international exchanges and cooperation in the field of cyber rule of law, actively carried out dialogue, consultation, exchanges and mutual learning, and constantly expanded and deepened the global partnership of equality, openness and cooperation, taking common progress as the driving force and win-win as the goal, and jointly promoted international governance of cyber.
Conduct bilateral and multilateral dialogues and exchanges on the rule of law on the Internet. Establish dialogue mechanisms such as Sino-Russian information security consultation mechanism, China-EU network working group mechanism, China-ASEAN network affairs dialogue mechanism, and China-Japan-ROK tripartite network consultation mechanism, and jointly hold activities such as "2019 Sino-German Internet Economic Dialogue", "China-Korea Internet Roundtable", "Medieval (Brazil) Internet Roundtable Forum" and "China-Pakistan (West) Internet Governance Seminar", and carry out practical work with relevant countries in network policies, regulations and network governance practices. Sign memorandums of cooperation on cybersecurity with Thailand and Indonesia, strengthen the exchange and sharing of cybersecurity policies and regulations, and jointly promote cybersecurity capacity building.
Strengthen international law enforcement and judicial cooperation in network security. China has reached a consensus with many countries on cooperation in the field of cyber security, and carried out in-depth and pragmatic cooperation in combating cyber terrorism and telecommunication network fraud. In the fight against cyber terrorism, through joint anti-terrorism exercises, joint border defense operations, police cooperation, judicial assistance and other forms, we will continue to deepen exchanges and cooperation with relevant countries, work together to meet threats and challenges, and jointly safeguard world peace and regional stability. In combating telecommunication network fraud, we have carried out international law enforcement and judicial cooperation, and jointly investigated major cross-border cases with many countries, and achieved remarkable results. From March to June, 2022, under the framework of Interpol, it participated in "Operation Dawn" with 75 other member countries, arrested more than 2,000 criminal suspects and intercepted illegal funds of more than 50 million US dollars, effectively curbing transnational telecommunication network fraud activities.
Work together to protect minors’ online rights and interests. Actively cooperate with international organizations such as UNICEF and the International Internet Hotline Federation, as well as relevant departments in Britain, Germany, United Arab Emirates and other countries to control online underage pornography. Join the "WePROTECT Global Alliance to End the Sexual Exploitation of Online Children" and work with more than 200 governments, enterprises and civil society organizations around the world to combat online sexual exploitation and abuse of children and create a safer online environment for children.
(C) efforts to build a dialogue platform
China has demonstrated its role as a responsible big country, actively built an international platform interconnected with the world and a China platform jointly built and shared by the Internet, which has played a positive role in keeping close contact, enhancing understanding and promoting mutual trust among countries in the field of cyber rule of law.
Build a network rule of law exchange platform through world internet conference. Since 2014, China has hosted the world internet conference for nine consecutive years, inviting representatives from governments, international organizations, Internet companies, think tanks, industry associations, technical communities and other sectors to participate. The organizing committee of the Congress issued the concept document "Building a Community of Cyberspace Destiny Together", proposing that "respect for cyberspace sovereignty and the principle of sovereign equality established in the Charter of the United Nations are the basic norms of contemporary international relations, which are also applicable to cyberspace". We issued the Action Initiative for Building a Community of Cyberspace Destiny together, proposing international exchanges and cooperation on data security and personal information protection and related rules and standards, and promoting international mutual recognition of personal information protection rules and standards in line with the purposes of the UN Charter. We will exchange legislative experience on the protection of minors, crack down on cyber crimes and cyber bullying against minors, and further improve the mechanism for cracking down on cyber crimes and cyber terrorism. Support and actively participate in the negotiation of the United Nations international convention against cyber crime, effectively coordinate the legislation and practice of various countries, and work together to deal with the threat of cyber crime and cyber terrorism.
Build a multi-form, multi-channel and multi-level network international exchange platform for the rule of law. Through multilateral platforms such as the BRICS Cooperation Mechanism, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization and the ASEAN Regional Forum, we will exchange in-depth views, experiences and practices on the construction of network rule of law, such as network legislation, law enforcement, justice and law popularization. The World Internet Rule of Law Forum was held and the Wuzhen Declaration of the World Internet Rule of Law Forum was issued to build a bridge for sharing experiences, enhancing understanding and learning from each other in the field of online justice. Support Internet industry organizations to establish international exchange platforms such as the China Internet Governance Forum, and conduct exchanges and discussions on topics such as digital inclusion and data governance, so as to promote consensus among Chinese and foreign Internet communities and jointly solve the problems faced by the development of the Internet industry. Experts and scholars are encouraged to carry out academic exchanges and share research results with international counterparts through academic forums, seminars and exchange meetings and other platforms around the frontier issues of network rule of law such as digital economy, data security and artificial intelligence governance.
Concluding remarks
In the practice of Internet development and governance, China, based on its own national conditions and drawing lessons from world experience, has formed a way of governing the Internet according to law with distinctive China characteristics. On the new journey of building a socialist modern country in an all-round way, China will always adhere to the concept of governing the country and the internet according to law, promote the orderly and healthy operation of the Internet according to law, escort the high-quality development of digital China with the power of the rule of law, and provide a solid guarantee for the construction of a network power.
The Internet development dividend benefits the whole world, and it is in the interests of people all over the world to promote the development and prosperity of cyberspace according to law. Network rule of law is not only an important way of digital governance, but also an important achievement of digital civilization construction. Facing the opportunities and challenges brought by digitalization, China is willing to work with the international community to practice the concept of global governance, jointly promote the legalization of global Internet governance, make the achievements of digital civilization better benefit people of all countries, work together to build a community of cyberspace destiny, and jointly create a better future for mankind.
