Is SMS threat illegal? If so, how to punish?

It is illegal to intimidate or threaten others, and it is illegal to intimidate or threaten others in any way. Therefore, the act of intimidating or threatening others with short messages should bear certain legal responsibilities. According to the relevant provisions of Article 42 of China's Law on Public Security Administration Punishment, under normal circumstances, the act of intimidating or threatening others through SMS can be punished with a maximum detention of not more than five days or a fine of not more than five hundred yuan. If the circumstances are serious, the punishment will be aggravated.

Legal basis:

According to Article 42 of the Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) on Public Security Administration Punishment, anyone who commits one of the following acts shall be detained for not more than five days or fined not more than five hundred yuan; If the circumstances are 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: (1) writing threatening letters or threatening the personal safety of others by other means;

(2) publicly insulting others or fabricating facts to slander others;

(3) fabricating facts, falsely accusing and framing others, and attempting to subject others to criminal investigation or public security administration punishment;

(4) Threatening, insulting, beating or retaliating against witnesses and their close relatives;

(5) sending obscene, insulting, intimidating or other information for many times to interfere with the normal life of others;

(six) voyeurism, sneak shots, eavesdropping, spreading the privacy of others.

Two. Sentencing of the crime of short message intimidation;

1, if the circumstances are minor and do not reach criminal punishment:

One of the following acts shall be detained for not more than five days or fined not more than five hundred yuan; If the circumstances are serious, they shall be detained for more than five days and less than ten days, and may be fined up to five hundred yuan:

(1) writing threatening letters or threatening the personal safety of others by other means;

(2) publicly insulting others or fabricating facts to slander others;

(3) fabricating facts, falsely accusing and framing others, and attempting to subject others to criminal investigation or public security administration punishment;

(4) Threatening, insulting, beating or retaliating against witnesses and their close relatives;

(5) sending obscene, insulting, intimidating or other information for many times to interfere with the normal life of others;

(six) voyeurism, sneak shots, eavesdropping, spreading the privacy of others.

2, the circumstances have reached the criminal punishment:

Article 293 of the Criminal Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years if he commits one of the following acts of provoking troubles and disrupting social order.

(1) beating others at will,

2. Chasing, intercepting, abusing or intimidating others,

(3) extorting money or arbitrarily damaging or embezzling public or private property,

(4) Causing serious disorder in public places.

Whoever gathers people for many times to commit the acts mentioned in the preceding paragraph and seriously undermines social order shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than 10 years and may also be fined.

To sum up, in the case of SMS threat, we respond in two ways.

One is that if the circumstances are minor and have no consequences, they can be detained for five to ten days or fined about 500 yuan;

One is serious enough to constitute criminal punishment, and may also be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years.