New Chinese Supreme Court ruling cracks down on user-generated content

On Thursday, China’s People’s Supreme Court issued new regulations to provide guidance to courts trying cases related to the violation of rights online, including copyright violations, slander and defamation, the violation of privacy rights, and more. The full text of the regulations may be worth a read for those with an interest in Chinese law, but one bit in particular will be of interest to anyone who operates an internet company with user-generated content in China. According to the regulations, internet service providers can and should be held liable for any violations committed by their users if they are found to have “known” about them.

Whether or not an internet firm “knew” about violations on its platform is determined according to seven conditions that look at things like how much traffic the law-violating post got. But the phrasing is vague enough that if interpreted broadly, the regulations could put internet companies on the hook for all kinds of user violations. And the regulations allow for compensation payments of up to RMB 500,000 (US$81,500) if a violation is found to have occurred.

It’s not likely that any particular company is going to be downed in RMB 500,000 fines, but depending on how the new rules are interpreted, internet services with user-generated content may be forced to hire or redeploy additional staff to police their own service for potential liabilities.

The new regulations don’t only affect Chinese companies. And web users should note that they also require internet firms to give up personal information on individual users if the courts determine that information is relevant to a complainant’s suit.

Chinese speakers can check out the full text of the regulations here or peruse a good run-down of their implications on TechWeb.