Hot Commentary: How “public figures” view “being scolded”

Criticisms are not tolerated. People say a few words about him, make up a text message to make fun of him, and then get angry and say that his reputation and privacy have been harmed. This is not how a public figure should behave.

On July 4, when Wang Yang, Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, talked with netizens about political issues on the Internet, he said that the advantage of the Internet is that it can express various demands. “As public figures, we should be correct Treat all kinds of different opinions, even those that criticize us." Why can leaders lose their temper, but the masses can't? Why can leaders scold their mothers, but the masses can't? (Xinhuanet, July 4)

This speech was praised by countless netizens, and everyone repeatedly pondered " Why can the leaders scold the masses but not the masses?" Such a powerful question. This kind of playfulness itself is a ruthless lashing against some officials who cannot listen to the opinions of the people and even get angry and retaliate when the people curse them. In the author's opinion, this sentence is by no means as simple as "relieving anger". It contains a very important concept for China today, that is, "public figures" - how to clarify the legal boundaries of public figures and let more officials understand What kind of "public figure position" one should hold is not only a top priority, but also the key to keeping this paragraph more vital.

For a long time, everyone has been confused about the concept of "public figure" - in fact, this concept is very important. It is not only a legal concept, but also a news concept, and is closely related to the supervision of public opinion. According to the practice of most countries and a large degree of public knowledge, when public figures receive many conveniences, they must also transfer some of their rights to conduct public opinion supervision for the benefit of the public. They can disclose the information of public figures. Regarding privacy, the supervised person shall not claim infringement of privacy rights in this regard. This also means that when officials at all levels face some "swearing" behavior from the public, tolerance is not only ethical and moral, but also basic legal rationality.

"Public figure" is an important concept in a country governed by law. The current problem is that our country currently does not have any laws to define what a public figure is. Although people generally feel that officials, entertainment stars, sports stars, social activists, etc. are all public figures, the boundaries between their speech and criticism in public affairs must be "special." But it is unclear who is considered a public figure and who is not, and to what extent they are special. Because of this, some public figures cannot listen to criticism. People will say a few words about them, make up a text message to make fun of them, and then get angry and say that their reputation and privacy have been harmed.

The real harm of this kind of confusion is that it not only makes criticism unjust, but also confuses the boundaries of the rights of ordinary people and public figures. Some netizens are stricter in their criticism of ordinary people than they are of "public figures" such as officials, and some officials even use criminal means to criticize netizens. In the past two years, there have been frequent incidents of vicious attacks on public opinion due to similar reasons. This kind of confusion is not just a problem of some officials, but also of many entertainment stars.

For example, in the past few days, mainland actor Lu Liping retweeted some extreme "anti-gay (homosexual)" remarks on Weibo and called it "awesome". This move caused public outrage. Cai Kangyong, Fan Weiqi, etc. Many Taiwanese artists have hit back at Lu Liping's "anti-gay" remarks. The organizing committee of this year's Taiwan Golden Horse Awards said that whether to invite her to attend is still under discussion and that it does not agree with any discriminatory behavior. As for Lu Liping's "anti-gay" remarks, her husband Sun Haiying came forward to protect his wife, saying that everyone has a different attitude towards things and the remarks are normal.

Previously, Hao Lei, Zhou Libo and others were condemned by public opinion for their foul language. The reason is actually the same. The boundaries of "public figures" are blurred, and officials, celebrities, and ordinary people will all disagree. Public figures are more willing to enjoy the many benefits under this name than to give up anything for these benefits. The result is that they harm the interests of the people everywhere.

From this perspective, I particularly hope that this "powerful" speech will be understood not only as a "relief", but also as a "problem-solving".

This statement clarified the basic concept of public figures and clearly defined the boundaries between criticism and acceptance of criticism, and between scolding and being scolded in a country governed by law. Everyone understands the meaning of "public figures", which is more conducive to correcting the scale of criticism of "public figures", conducive to effective public supervision, and conducive to building a reasonable society.