| Since the 21st century,the world has entered the age of the Internet,and society in general,and younger groups in particular,are choosing to communicate more online.While it has brought instant and convenient access,it has also brought about many social problems,one of the more notable ones being hate speech.The Internet is a platform that facilitates the generation,publication and dissemination of hate speech,especially when there are hot social issues,the impact of which is difficult to control.Take,for example,the new crown epidemic that swept the world in 2020.The internet has become a medium and platform for the rapid dissemination of unverified information,or inter-group disputes and arguments,and has eventually evolved into a vehicle for rapid incitement to online hate speech,affecting the inclusive stability of societies and the unity and harmony of nations.As a result,many countries are aware of the problem and are tackling it,and China is also taking a two-pronged approach-on the one hand,strengthening the institutional improvement of legislation,and on the other hand,vigorously carrying out cyberspace management actions such as "Operation Clear" and combating telecommunication network fraud.In this paper,we examine the legislative and judicial measures to combat hate speech on the Internet in China,analyse their current status,achievements and shortcomings,and introduce overseas practices while proposing thoughts and countermeasures to improve the relevant legislation in China.This paper first defines the basic concept and meaning of traditional hate speech,and then summarises and analyses the definition and characteristics of hate speech on the Internet-the specificity of speech,the specificity of the target,the randomness of harm and the characteristics of the group-in the light of the invisibility and interactivity of cyberspace.Secondly,the author classifies the manifestations of online hate speech in the context of China’s social and cultural background,and divides them into four major manifestations: ethnic hate speech,religious hate speech,regional hate speech and gender hate speech.Again,taking Baidu Post,an important online communication platform in China,as an example,the proliferation of online hate speech is sorted out by combining the characteristics of this platform and tracing the roots of the phenomenon.At the same time,the need for criminal law to intervene is analysed in the context of the current state of civil and administrative regulation in China.However,the fact is that there are still ambiguities and gaps in the governance of online hate speech in China,so the author combines a large number of foreign criminal law enforcement methods and puts forward corresponding suggestions for the improvement of China’s criminal law regime for online hate speech. |
