Criminal-Law Regulatory Pathways for Doxxing in Online Abuse-A Comparative Law Perspective

DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jel.202514615

Author(s)

Zhiyuan Yang

Affiliation(s)

Yantai University, Yantai, Shandong, China

Abstract

This article discusses the criminal-law regulatory pathways of doxxing as online abuse, which involves a comparative-law perspective on the vague definition of doxxing, the structural problems with criminal regulations, and domestic and foreign legislative experiences. Comparing the US, Germany, Netherlands and Hong Kong (China), legislative experiences show regulatory problems in all areas, and some response measures were adopted, including extending offense definitions, creating special provisions, or improving civil remedy enforcement. In China, Article 253-1 of the Criminal Law (the crime of infringing citizens' personal information) should clarify which types of behavior are illegal when disclosing personal information, set separate thresholds and criminal sentences for criminalization, resolve issues of legal application for special circumstances, and form a system of exculpatory grounds consisting of enforcing legal norms, revealing illegal or criminal behavior, news reports, and good faith, in order to follow the principle of relevance and necessity, maintain a balance between individual rights and the public interest, and implement targeted regulation.

Keywords

Doxxing; Online Abuse; Publicly Available Personal Information; Balancing of Interests; Exculpatory Grounds

References

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