Recently, people online have been selling verbal abuse (言语辱骂) "services". An internet user pays the seller some money to abuse the victim (受害者) through social media. However, this is not right or legal (合法的).
To know more about this, Teens talked to Xing Junxia, a lawyer (律师) at the S&P Law Firm in Beijing.
In life, we may say bad words to people we don't like. If it gets serious, it becomes verbal abuse. "The act of verbal abuse violates(侵犯) the victim's rights, " Xing said. "These words usually hurt the victim's right to reputation (名誉权)， which can lead to civil liability(民事责任). " The attacker (攻击者) should stop this right away. He or she should also formally(正式地) say sorry to the victim. This is to cut down their influence of the abuse. Xing pointed out that both the attacker and the payer should bear civil liability because they do it together.
In more serious situations, the attacker will face administrative penalties (行政处罚). A man in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang, who ran an online verbal abuse "service" and had abused 25 people, was recently caught. Although he knew it was illegal, he believed it was an easy way to make money. In the end, he was fined 500 yuan and handed over all of the illegal money he had got.
In the most serious situations, Xing said, verbal abuse can make the victim ill. The attacker should then face criminal liability (刑事责任). It means that he or she may spend time in prison (监狱)，said Xing.
