In the Internet age
people enjoy the happiness of
freedom of expression in the self-media
But this does not mean that
can express unscrupulously in cyberspace
and even infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of others
Freedom of speech has boundaries
The legal bottom line cannot be crossed
Basic case facts
The plaintiff, Zhao, is the head of a certain company's department, and the defendant, Zhou, is the driver of the company. One afternoon, Zhao needed to take a vehicle driven by Zhou to the scene to check the dispatching operation due to work. During this period, according to work arrangements, someone else took a ride in the vehicle driven by Zhou, and a traffic accident occurred while driving to the Yiyikou intersection. The traffic police department issued a road traffic accident certificate, confirming that Zhou committed illegal acts such as failing to drive according to regulations at intersections, insufficient observation of intersections, being negligent, and failing to ensure safety while driving, and was primarily responsible for the accident. . The company made the decision to terminate the labor contract because Zhou caused a traffic accident, caused heavy losses to the company, and later made temporary work arrangements for him, refused to obey the company's arrangements, and violated the company's rules and regulations.
Because Zhou was dissatisfied with the company's punishment, he posted videos on public information platforms such as Toutiao, Douyin, and WeChat backstage, "Company leaders use official vehicles for private use, and employees should bear responsibility for traffic accidents; XX illegally drives a bus without a license" and other videos, Speech information. Zhao sued Zhou to Fei County Court on the grounds of reputation dispute.
Court hearing
The Fei County Court held that Zhou believed that Zhao had a problem with private use of official cars and could report it to relevant departments through due and legal procedures. However, he used it on public information platforms such as Toutiao, Douyin, and WeChat. Publishing defamatory and false remarks subjectively has the malicious intent to disparage Zhao's reputation, and objectively commits acts that infringe on the reputation of others, inevitably affecting others' fair evaluation of Zhao, and should bear the infringement liability. civil liability. Zhao asked Zhou to withdraw the untrue remarks published on public information platforms such as Toutiao, Douyin, and WeChat backstage. Since the video and speech information had been deleted from the backend, Zhou was ordered to apologize to Zhao.
The judge reminded
that citizens’ right to reputation is protected by law. Cyberspace is not only a place for people to spread information and communicate, but also a healthy and orderly space for activities. Anyone who expresses opinions on the Internet should be restricted by moral norms and laws. Even if there are conflicts and disputes, they should be resolved through legitimate and legal channels. Anyone who uses the Internet to infringe on the reputation rights of others by insulting or other means shall bear civil liability.
In the era of "everyone is a microphone", citizens must not only abide by the most basic legal red lines and consciously regulate their words and deeds, but also strengthen bottom line awareness and the concept of the rule of law.
[Source: Feixian County Court]
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