Cyberbullying: First enable protections, gather evidence, then choose between court injunctions, private prosecution, or police reports

There’s no monetary cost. It takes just a few minutes on the spot to enable protections and collect evidence. If you end up needing a court injunction or filing a private prosecution, you’ll have to visit the court and may even need to hire a lawyer. The hardest part is documenting everything right away instead of retaliating with insults.

Article 15 of Document No. 14 (2023) outlines how courts issue injunctions to protect personal rights. When a rights holder can prove that someone is currently committing or about to commit an act that infringes those rights, and failing to stop it would cause irreparable harm, the court may grant an injunction under Article 997 of the Civil Code. Such an injunction is a legal order forcing the offender to cease the behavior. Article 11 of the same document addresses evidence collection: in private prosecution cases, victims who struggle to obtain evidence may ask police for help; police must identify the perpetrator, gather data on how the content spread, and provide technical support to platforms. If evidence collected this way meets filing criteria, the court must accept the case. Article 12 lists five scenarios that qualify as “serious harm to social order” under Article 246, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Law, such as causing mental illness or suicide among victims, widespread vulgar comments, repeated defamation, coordinated posting across multiple platforms, or other grave consequences. Article 4 criminalizes “human flesh search” operations that illegally collect and distribute personal information. Regulation No. 23 of the Cyberbullying Governance Rules requires platforms to offer tools like blocking unknown or specific users, limiting post visibility, disabling reposts or comments, and controlling private messages. Article 25 mandates quick evidence‑collection features, Article 26 requires prominent reporting channels, and Article 15 obliges platforms to report suspected crimes to police promptly.

最高人民法院、最高人民检察院、公安部 (2023). 关于依法惩治网络暴力违法犯罪的指导意见（法发〔2023〕14 号，第 4、11、12、15 条）. https://www.court.gov.cn/zixun/xiangqing/412992.html；全国人大 (2020). 民法典（第九百九十七条）. 最高人民检察院转载全文 https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/fl/202006/t20200602_463888.shtml；国家互联网信息办公室、公安部、文化和旅游部、国家广播电视总局 (2024). 网络暴力信息治理规定（第十五、二十三、二十五、二十六条，2024 年 8 月 1 日施行）. 国务院公报 https://www.gov.cn/gongbao/2024/issue_11526/202408/content_6969181.html

The order of options follows what’s fastest and cheapest: platform actions are quickest and cost nothing, so start by securing evidence and filing a report. Court procedures are the slowest and most expensive, so they’re a last resort. All associated costs fall on you. You must apply for the injunction yourself, and in private prosecutions you handle both filing and evidence gathering. Only if the case meets one of the five criteria in Article 12 can it be converted to a public prosecution. Two things to avoid: never retaliate with insults, as that could make you liable under Article 16; and never delete any content from your account, because it serves as evidence. If you feel overwhelmed, call 12356 as described in Section 1, Article 25. To request removal of your personal data, refer to Section 14, Article 8. Guidance on helping strangers who become victims is provided in docs/遇到陌生人出事该不该停.md.