The Balance Of Citizen Network Freedom Of Speech And Privacy Protection

As a fundamental human right of citizens, freedom of expression isprotected by the Constitution and it has been recognized by theinternational community already. Freedom of expression is an importantsafeguard to citizens to exercise other rights and freedoms and it is animportant driving force to promote social development and progress ofcivilization. With the rapid development of the Internet in the1990s,comparing to newspapers, television and radio, as a new way of expression,network of citizens to freedom of expression has advantages because ofits openness, anonymity. Freedom of speech on Internet is an extensionof freedom of speech, it is not bounded, intervened and punished exceptit is permitted by law. It fully embodies the civic autonomy in the onlineworld. However, the exercise of any rights and freedoms should berestricted by law and the public interest. If freedom of speech on Internetis exercised improperly, resulting in infringement to other people inlegitimate interests (reputation, privacy, etc.), it is a conflictbetween the two rights.In the21st century, individual personality is an independent bodywhose rights have been respected and protected unprecedentedly. The rightto privacy is guaranteed from the initial field of private law to theconstitutional gradually, and the right to privacy is developed frompassive defense to dominate and control the individual active. With theprivacy conscious of citizens constantly awakening, freedom of speech onInternet is regulated in reality. Freedom of speech on Internet andprivacy are both basic human rights of citizens, we should choose abalanced protection path to regulate the two kinds of rights when they have conflict.In our country, the legislation about freedom of speech on Internetand privacy is rather late, and the legislation about freedom of speechon Internet and privacy is defined too general. Based on this, we can learnfrom the developed countries about foreign law relevant to legislativeexperience. At the same time, we should also pay attention to conditions,differences in cultural traditions, the relevant legislative experiencecautious. In exploring paths of balanced protection about freedom ofspeech on Internet and the right to privacy, we should determine theappropriate protection principles，they are principles of public interestand the principle of legality, the principle of proportionality.Specifically, we need to clear the personality rights of free speech andprivacy properties in the field of the Constitution, strengthen thenetwork legislative process, clear the legal concepts and scope aboutfreedom of speech on Internet and the right to privacy, clear guidelinesfor law about the freedom of speech on Internet and the right to privacy,and the same time, we need to optimize network Tort Responsibility andthe Network real name system.