BEIJING, June 9 (Reuters) - China is canvassing public opinion on draft guidelines to punish cyber violence, authorities said on Friday, as concern grows over online bullying and attacks targeting women and children in the world's largest internet community.
Cyber violence, unlike traditional crimes, often aims at strangers so that victims face "extremely high" costs to protect their rights, the guidelines showed, leading to consequences such as social death, insanity and suicides.
June 25 is the deadline set for comment on the guidelines drafted jointly by the public security ministry, the supreme people's procuratorate (SPP) and the supreme people's court.
The measures target behaviours such as the spread of online rumours, insults and personal information, and perpetrators could face criminal punishment.
Reporting by Beijing Newsroom and Brenda Goh; Editing by Tom Hogue and Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Persons:
procuratorate, Brenda Goh, Tom Hogue, Clarence Fernandez
Organizations:
Beijing, Thomson
Locations:
BEIJING, China, Wuhan