Beijing court handled over 1,600 online infringement cases

While pledging to continue the effort to efficiently solve online infringement disputes, Beijing No 4 Intermediate People's Court has also called on internet platforms to strictly implement the real-name authentication, while paying higher attention to accounts registered by children.

Data released by the court on Wednesday showed that it handled more than 1,600 online infringement cases from 2021 to 2023, mainly for infringing upon others' right of reputation through the internet.

These cases also included the infringement of other people's rights to privacy, name, portrait and personal information, according to the court.

"Most disputes were caused by speeches or comments on the internet, and frequently seen on social platforms, such as micro blogs, WeChat, short videos and forums," Li Yingxin, vice-president of the court, told a news conference.

She said that online infringement is more difficult to resolve, "as people are more casual when speaking in cyberspace, and the faster and wider spread of online information is more likely to aggravate conflicts."

She also urged more people, including those from schools and social organizations, to attach greater importance to infringement cases involving juveniles, saying "such lawsuits have been more frequently seen in the court."

Some minors were verbally bullied by others while playing online games, and some children's personal information were stolen while surfing the internet, she said.

"Although the victims received civil compensation through litigation, the infringement disputes have still affected their physical and mental health, and even made some children temporarily suspend their studies," she said.

Families and educational institutes should strengthen supervision on children when they are registering online accounts or using online payment services, she suggested, adding that internet platforms also need to tighten the verification of minor users.

In addition, she called for netizens to be more sensible when commenting and speaking out their opinions online instead of verbally bullying others to intensify conflicts.