論網路空間特性對妨害名譽犯罪適用之影響

A Study on How Characteristics of the Internet Affect the Application of Crimes against Reputation

江哲瑋(Che-Wei Chiang)

指導教授 ： 黃榮堅

國立臺灣大學/法律學院/法律學研究所/碩士(2014年)

https://doi.org/10.6342/NTU.2014.03146

摘要

本論文探討網路空間特性對於妨害名譽犯罪適用造成之影響。並區分為兩個問題進行討論：針對網路虛擬化身的言論可否構成妨害名譽犯罪、以及在網路上發表言論應負如何之查證義務。
　　就第一個問題而言，本文在回顧國內外學說實務之後，首先探究名譽及名譽法益之內涵，得出名譽法益即是社會上他人對於個人之評價，而其利益即在於該評價所表彰個人在社會生活中之可能性。其次，本文進一步討論虛擬化身與個人人格之間之關聯性，作出了虛擬化身與現實身分均屬於個人多重角色之一之結論，而針對虛擬化身的言論攻擊，所侵害的並非虛擬化身之名譽，而是個人透過虛擬化身在網路社群中所受到的評價，與在現實世界中受到攻擊並無差異。最後，本文深入區分虛擬世界與現實世界在經驗上之差異，探討圍繞著虛擬化身的社會生活是否有以刑法保護之必要，並發現無論從傳播媒介的特性、網路空間中發展出的人際關係，以及該等人際關係蛻變為現實人際關係的可能性來看，網路空間中的社會生活並非一概不值得以刑法加以保護，而必須從受攻擊的化身周邊的社會生活，對於個人整體社會生活的重要性，來作出可罰與否以及量刑上的判斷。
　　關於第二個問題，本文亦先行回顧學說實務文獻，其後探討發表言論所涉及的言論自由與新聞自由之內涵，並由個人容易使用網路向大眾傳播的網路近用性，得出網路空間使得言論對於個人自我實現、甚至公共論述的促進有著更大的功用，尤其當傳統大眾傳播媒介大都處於新自由主義的影響之下，網路空間對於公共論述的價值更形珍貴。而網路雖具有較大的傳播能力，然而，網路言論的影響力受到發表言論人展現出的查證能力外觀所影響。衡量上述因素，應可認為網路上發表言論，如果沒有展現出特別的查證能力外觀，則僅需要踐行自己能力範圍內所可為之查證，即可不受誹謗罪刑相繩。
　　本文藉由此二問題之討論，凸顯出刑法無法自外於網路社會生活，必須管制針對網路化身之言論，但在此同時，也不能忽略網路上活動可能帶來之利益，因而對於個人在網路上發表言論，不應做過高的查證要求。

關鍵字

妨害名譽罪 ； 虛擬空間 ； 網路化身 ； 別名性 ； 查證義務 ； 網路媒介特性

並列摘要

This thesis focuses on how the characteristics of the Internet affect the application of crimes against reputation. Two different issues are discussed: whether speeches directed at avatars are punishable under crimes against reputation, and how characteristics of the cyberspace affect the standard of fact-checking duties of those who deliver speeches on the Internet.

As of the first issue, this thesis first analyzes the concept of reputation, and finds that reputation in the context of criminal law should be understood as how people evaluate one person, and the legal interest of reputation is the possibility to live a social life with those evaluations. This thesis further finds that people often play multiple roles in daily life. With segregation of the audience, people have different reputation with different roles. Avatars, as roles people play in the cyberspace, are no different from roles people play in real life, and the reputation surrounding avatars is indeed part of the reputation of the users controlling the avatars. Therefore, speeches directed at the avatars harm the reputation not of the avatar, but of the user controlling it. Then, in order to determine whether social life in cyberspace is worthy of protection by criminal law, this thesis compares social life in cyberspace and social life in real life in terms of characteristics of the media, qualities of interpersonal relationships, and the possibilities of relationships in cyberspace developing into relationships in real life. This thesis concludes that it can’t be said that social life in cyberspace is not worthy of protection altogether. Rather, this thesis proposes the standard of “importance to the whole of social life”, which is to weigh the social life surrounding the avatar being attacked against the whole of one person’s social life to see whether the offense is punishable, and to serve as an indicator for sentencing.

Turning to the second issue, this thesis first analyzes the two rights concerning defamation, the freedom of speech and freedom of press. Then, this thesis discovers that the Internet is relatively accessible to common people, allowing them to easily disseminate speech to the general public. Therefore, speeches on the Internet has unique value in terms of self-realization as well as facilitating discussion in the public forum, especially when traditional mass medias are mostly under the influence of major corporates in the age of neoliberalism. Although the Internet is more capable of disseminating information as a medium, on the Internet, the influence a speech has on the victim’s reputation is mainly decided by fact-checking capacity the speaker exhibits. Weighing the positive values an Internet speech concerns, this thesis considers it appropriate to exempt an Internet speaker of her criminal liability had she fulfilled the fact-checking duties as she exhibited to be capable of on the Internet.

With the conclusions of these two issues, this thesis attempts to show that social life in the Internet needs legal protection even when it is not connected to real life, while the law should pay attention of the interest Internet activities poses when intervening, so as to minimize harm to those unique values.

並列關鍵字

Crimes against reputation ； Cyberspace ； Avatar ； Pseudonymity ； Duty of fact-checking ； Characteristics of the Internet medium

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