This still image from a video clip displays a female student in Quanzhou City being bullied by three other students. (Photo : Sina/China Daily)
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) requires all media to make children’s right a priority when reporting issues of school bullying.
Under the regulation, the media must not violate the privacy of minors by releasing names, addresses, photos or other materials.
Websites are barred from displaying obscene or violent photos and videos involving child bullying.
The agency also asked the media to reduce the repetition of such news reports.
An example of such case involved an 8-year-old boy in Zhejiang Province. The said bullying led to a public outrage after a violent video spread online.
In the video, four middle-school students beat the boy and burned him with cigarette butts.
As compensation for the harm done, the victim and his family will receive 90,000 yuan ($14,500), said a report by China Radio International.
“Reports on schoolground bullying are necessary to reflect the nation's social problems, but detailed accounts of such incidents, like the video posted on the Web, are banned in order to prevent secondary damage to the victim and minor offenders,” said the administration.
Web companies are obliged to promptly review and remove information that could deface minors.
Those who will flout the regulations will be warned and fined, the agency added.
Aside from regulations on juvenile bullying cases, the administration also banned social media from using dirty words.
“We should clear the smog of coarse language,” said CAC spokesman Jiang Jun, “and the internet companies should take the responsibility to do so.”
