Insulting a teacher in a WeChat group, self-inflicted maximum penalty

[4] Compiled from: Red Star News
 
On November 25, "Anping Rongmei," a media outlet in Anping County, Hengshui City, Hebei Province, reported that a student's parent, Wang, was administratively detained for 10 days and fined 500 yuan after repeatedly insulting a teacher in a WeChat group following a dispute over the child's online classes.

 
 

Case review
On November 23, Wang engaged in a dispute with the homeroom teacher in the parent WeChat group regarding the child's tardiness for online classes. Subsequently, Wang sent a series of voice messages containing insulting and demeaning language in the WeChat group, launching personal attacks that caused physical and mental harm as well as reputational damage to the homeroom teacher, resulting in a negative impact.
 
Hebei Anping Middle School reposted this message on its official WeChat account, stating that in order to maintain the normal order of education and teaching at the school and protect the reputation of the teachers, the school immediately called the police. Upon receiving the report, the Chengguan Police Station promptly launched an investigation and summoned Wang to the public security organ for questioning. After review, Wang admitted to insulting the teacher in the parents' WeChat group. In accordance with Article 42, Item 2 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Penalties for Administration of Public Security, Wang was administratively detained for 10 days for suspected public insult of another person and fined 500 yuan in full.
 
 
Public Security Administration Punishments Law of the People's Republic of China
Article 42
Whoever commits any of the following acts shall be detained for not more than five days or fined not more than 500 yuan; if the circumstances are relatively serious, he shall be detained for not less than five days but not more than ten days and may also be fined not more than 500 yuan:
……
[6] (2) Publicly insulting others or fabricating facts to slander others;
……
 
 
[1] Education Law of the People's Republic of China
Article 4
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The whole society shall respect teachers.

 
 

 
[1] The author's perspective
Once this case was reported, many netizens expressed confusion: quarreling and cursing in WeChat groups is common, so why was this incident so serious that the party involved received administrative punishment? The author believes there are two points to note in this case. First, the act of publicly insulting others; second, the identity of the insulted person being a teacher.

First, Wang's voice messages were insulting, infringing on the teacher's personal rights and reputation rights. Second, the WeChat group included many parents and teachers, not a one-on-one private space but a public setting. These insulting voice messages could be leaked by other group members through forwarding or screen recording. Due to the rapid spread of online information, this could further damage the teacher's reputation. Based on these two points, Wang's behavior violated Article 42 of the Public Security Administration Punishments Law.

According to Article 4 of the Education Law, however, based on past cases, most infringers have been dealt with through apologies and criticism education. Why was Wang given the maximum penalty this time?  Respect for teachers is protected by the state in the form of law.  Wang repeatedly sent voice messages in the parents' WeChat group insulting the teacher, which not only caused the teacher to lose face in front of students, hindering the subsequent conduct of educational work, but also damaged the teacher's image in front of parents and caused a loss of trust from parents. Wang's behavior was not merely a personal insult to another person, but also affected school management and the conduct of daily educational work. Such egregious behavior must be severely punished in order to warn infringers and remind everyone to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests through lawful means.