Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Regarding Safeguarding Internet Safety (CECC Full Translation)

The following is a translation prepared by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China of the "Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Regarding Safeguarding Internet Safety" issued by the National People's Congress Standing Committee on December 28, 2000. The Chinese text was retrieved from the Sina.com website on March 7, 2006. Owing to the strong advocacy and active promotion of the nation, usage of China’s Internet in the building of the economy and various enterprises has grown more widespread on a daily basis, and has already begun, and will continue, to cause deep changes the way people manufacture, work, study and live, and has had a profound effect on China’s economic and scientific technology development and the advancement of the informatization of social services. At the same time, the problem of how to ensure the safe operation of the Internet and information security has attracted the universal attention of the entire society. This Decision has been issued in order to promote what is beneficial and deter what is harmful, encourage the healthy development of China’s Internet, safeguard national security and the common interests of society, and protect the legal interests of individuals, legal persons and other organizations. Article 1. In order to ensure the safe operation of the Internet, any of the following actions, which constitutes a crime, will be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with the relevant criminal provisions: (i) trespass on computer information system domains for national affairs, building national defense, or top-level scientific technology; (ii) intentionally producing or transmitting computer viruses or other disruptive programs, attacking computer systems or communication networks, or causing computer systems or communication networks to suffer damage; (iii) in violation of national regulations, interrupting computer network or communication network services without authorization, causing computer networks or communication networks to be unable to operate normally. Article 2. In order to safeguard national security and social stability, any of the following actions, which constitutes a crime, will be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with the relevant criminal provisions: (i) utilizing the Internet for rumor mongering, defamation or publicizing or transmitting any other harmful information to incite subversion of the national regime, repudiate the socialist system, incite the breakup of the nation or undermine the unity of the nation; (ii) stealing or divulging state secrets, intelligence or military matters through the Internet; (iii) utilizing the Internet to incite hatred against peoples, racism against peoples, or undermine the solidarity of peoples; (iv) utilizing the Internet to organize evil cult organizations, communicate with the members of evil cult organizations, or disrupt the implementation of national laws and administrative rules. Article 3. In order to safeguard socialist market economic order and social administration order any of the following actions, which constitutes a crime, will be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with the relevant criminal provisions: (i) utilizing the Internet to sell fake goods or conduct false advertising for goods or services; (ii) utilizing the Internet to damage the credibility of a third party’s business or the reputation of their product; (iii) utilizing the Internet to infringe upon the intellectual property rights of a third party; (iv) utilizing the Internet to compile and transmit false information which effects the securities, commodities or otherwise disturbs financial order; (v) to establish on the Internet an obscene website or web page, provide linking services to obscene sites, or transmit obscene periodicals, video, sound or pictures. Article 4. In order to protect the person, property and other legal rights of individuals, legal persons and other organizations, any of the following actions, which constitutes a crime, will be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with the relevant criminal provisions: (i) utilizing the Internet to publicly insult third parties or fabricate facts to slander or libel third parties; (ii) illegally intercepting, tampering with, or deleting a third party’s e-mail or other digital information, or infringe upon a citizen’s freedom of communication and information security; (iii) utilizing the Internet to carry out piracy, fraud, or racketeering and extortion. Article 5. Utilizing the Internet to carry out any actions other than those listed in Articles 1, 2, 3 or 4, which constitutes a crime, will be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with the relevant criminal provisions. Article 6. Utilizing the Internet to carry out any actions which, while violating society’s public security administration, nevertheless do not constitute a crime, shall be punished by the public security organs in accordance with the Regulations on Public Security Administration Punishment; violations of other laws and administrative rules which nevertheless do not constitute a crime, shall be subject to administrative punishment by the relevant administrative agencies; government personnel who are directly responsible and all other personnel who are directly responsible shall be subject to administrative sanction or disciplinary sanction. Utilizing the Internet to infringe upon the legal rights of third parties, which constitutes a civil infringement, will bear civil responsibility in accordance with the law. Article 7. In the process of encouraging the use of the Internet and the dissemination of network technologies, the personnel of relevant departments of the People’s Government at all levels shall adopt proactive measures to emphasize and support development and exploitation of Internet security technologies, and strengthen the security protection capabilities of the Internet. Relevant responsible departments shall strengthen propagandizing and education with respect to the Internet’s operating security and information security, implement effective monitoring administration in accordance with the law, be vigilant against and deter utilizing the Internet to carry out any kind of illegal activities, and create a favorable social environment for the healthy development of the Internet. Units engaged in Internet businesses shall carry out their activities in accordance with the law, and upon discovering any illegal criminal behavior or harmful information occurring on the Internet, shall adopt measures to stop the transmission of the harmful information, and immediately report it to the relevant department. When using the Internet, every individual or unit must observe discipline and obey the law, resist all types of illegal criminal behavior and harmful information. The People’s Courts, People’s Procuraterates, public security organs and national security organs shall, within their respective jurisdictions, closely coordinate to strike hard in accordance with the law against all types of criminal activities carried out utilizing the Internet. The entire society’s strength shall be mobilized, and the entire society’s collective efforts shall be relied upon, to ensure the Internet’s operating security and information security, and promote the establishment of a civilization that is socialist in spirit and in substance.