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Does spreading the indecent videos you filmed to other places constitute a crime and result in criminal liability?

According to the Procuratorate Daily Justice Network, Wang and Pan are both married and have checked into hotels many times. After drinking, Wang used his mobile phone to film the two having sex in order to seek excitement. Later, Wang filmed a total of five indecent videos with Pan and saved them in his WeChat favorites for his own viewing.

Later, Pan proposed to break up with Wang. Wang tried to keep her but failed. After getting drunk, he sent the obscene video to others. When Pan found out, he asked Wang to delete the video, but Wang lied that his phone was broken and did not delete the video.

Out of revenge and wanting to show off to others that he had dated a beautiful woman, Wang sent the video to Gong and others who were competitors of Pan in the same industry. Gong and others then sent the video privately to other people.

After the video went viral, many netizens searched for Pan's social media accounts and insulted him, which had a huge impact on Pan's work and life. Pan even tried to commit suicide by drinking pesticides several times, but fortunately he was rescued in time and no tragic consequences were caused.

Pan tried to contact Wang to resolve the problem, but Wang refused to meet him and made provocative remarks several times over the phone.

In August 2023, Pan called the police, and on September 7 of the same year, the Public Security Bureau of Wufeng Tujia Autonomous County, Hubei Province, gave Wang an administrative detention of ten days and imposed a fine of 500 yuan.

After the administrative penalty was completed, Wang's arrogant attitude did not change, and Pan applied to the Wufeng Tujia Autonomous County Procuratorate for supervision.

After review, the prosecutor believed that Wang's behavior had reached the standard for filing a case of forced insult, and on October 8, 2023, he sent a notice to the Wufeng Tujia Autonomous County Public Security Bureau requesting an explanation of the reasons for not filing a case. After receiving the notice, the public security organ conducted a special study and judgment and transferred the case to a criminal case for investigation. The procuratorate intervened and guided the public security organ in the investigation in accordance with the law.

On May 17, 2024, the Wufeng Tujia Autonomous County Procuratorate filed a public prosecution against Wang on suspicion of forced insult. On June 5, after trial, the court adopted the accusation and sentencing recommendation of the procuratorate and sentenced the defendant Wang to two years and ten months in prison for the crime of forced insult.

Wang Yuanyuan, former senior prosecutor, member of the Criminal Prosecution and Criminal Defense Committee of the Shanghai Lawyers Association, and secretary-general of the National Criminal Committee of Jingheng Law FirmAccording to an analysis by "Fadu Law", Article 237, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Law stipulates the crime of forced molestation and insult, namely, "whoever uses violence, coercion or other means to force indecent assault on others or insult women shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention."

How to judge whether the behavior of the perpetrator is "forced insult" and whether it constitutes a crime? Lawyer Wang Yuanyuan said that the establishment of the crime of forced insult does not require the perpetrator to carry out the insulting behavior openly and publicly. If the perpetrator insults the victim's personality, such as secretly taking nude photos, forcing the victim to talk about obscene and insulting topics, etc., it may only occur between the defendant and the victim, but it does not mean that it does not constitute the crime of forced insult to women. Infringement of the victim's personality means that in addition to infringing the general personality dignity of women, it also infringes on the dignity of women's "special personality", infringing on the victim's special rights such as shame and sexual freedom.

Lawyer Wang Yuanyuan said that in this case, although Wang did not use violence or coercion, his act of spreading the victim's obscene video on the Internet can be understood as "other methods" to forcibly insult women. Wang's behavior caused Pan to be mentally insulted and unable to effectively resist or reduce the consequences of the dissemination. His behavior was obviously coercive.

Therefore, considering the coercive nature of the behavior, the high degree of insult, and the serious consequences, the court sentenced the defendant Wang to two years and ten months in prison for the crime of coercive insult. The Internet is not a place outside the law, and spreading other people's private information, photos, videos, etc. will only harm others and eventually harm yourself.

According to a search on "Law", similar cases have occurred before.

In July 2021, Deng Moumou, dissatisfied with his girlfriend's proposal to break up, uploaded the indecent video he had taken of the two and his girlfriend's personal information to a WeChat group with more than 260 members. In October of that year, Deng Moumou surrendered to the public security organs.

The first instance of the Shantou Chaoyang District People's Court held that Deng Moumou disregarded national laws, used WeChat groups to spread indecent videos of others, intentionally insulted the victim, and seriously violated the victim's privacy and reputation rights. His behavior constituted the crime of forced insult. Based on this, Deng Moumou was sentenced to two years in prison for the crime of forced insult.

Why was Deng's behavior classified as the crime of forced insult rather than the crime of spreading obscene materials? The presiding judge of the case pointed out that, judging from the objective element, the object of the crime of forced insult is the physical freedom, privacy and reputation rights of others; the object of the crime of spreading obscene materials is the state's management order of obscene materials.

From an objective perspective, the crime of forced insult is manifested in insulting women by violence, coercion or other means; the crime of disseminating obscene materials is manifested in disseminating obscene books, films, audio-visual materials, pictures or other obscene materials.

In this case, the defendant Deng posted the victim's indecent video and personal information to a large WeChat group with close ties to the victim in real life. Group members could easily identify the victim's true identity, seriously infringing the victim's sexual shame, privacy and reputation rights.

Therefore, the defendant Deng's behavior is more consistent with the criminal characteristics of the crime of forced insult, and he should be convicted and sentenced for the crime of forced insult.

The Guangdong Provincial High People's Court also disclosed a similar case. The private prosecutor Wang had dated the defendant Li, during which Li took nude photos of Wang. After the two broke up, the defendant Li posted a "revelation" article in the private prosecutor's WeChat fan group (more than 400 members), accompanied by nude photos of the private prosecutor, "paid hookups" and "bed photos".

From June to July 2018, the defendant edited the above articles and photos and published them on his Weibo account in installments. The relevant posts were forwarded 20,000 times, commented on 115 times, and liked 1,033 times, which caused a large number of ridicules and attacks from netizens, causing great psychological pressure on the plaintiff. The defendant also published the network link of the above posts on the relevant network platform, which was forwarded by multiple network accounts with many fans.

The Nanshan District People's Court of Shenzhen City held that the defendant Li Moumou, in order to vent his anger, used the information network to publish private photos and insulting texts of the private prosecutor, openly insulted the private prosecutor, and caused the relevant information to be forwarded in large quantities. His behavior constituted the crime of insult. Taking into account the defendant's confession and guilty plea, the defendant Li Moumou was sentenced to one year in prison for the crime of insult. After the verdict was announced, Li Moumou appealed. The Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court ruled to dismiss the appeal and uphold the original verdict.

Zhang Junbin, a lawyer at Gansu Ceheng Law FirmTell "Law" that the legal interest violated by the crime of insult is the reputation of others, while the legal interest violated by the crime of forced indecency and insult is the right of others to make independent decisions on sexual behavior. Article 237 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates: "Whoever forcibly indecently molests others or insults women by violence, coercion or other means shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention." And Article 246 of the Criminal Law stipulates: "Whoever publicly insults others or fabricates facts to slander others by violence or other means, if the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, control or deprivation of political rights." Therefore, from the perspective of sentencing, the punishment for the crime of forced insult is heavier than that for the crime of insult, which can better protect the rights and interests of women.

Lawyer Zhang Junbin reminds victims that if they encounter such problems, they should report to the public security organs immediately to stop the damage in time and prevent the further spread of the video. At the same time, the public security organs will impose corresponding administrative penalties on the specific behavior of the offender, such as fines, detention, etc.; or hold them criminally responsible for insult, forced insult, and dissemination of obscene materials.