網路霸凌法律規制的規範取向之研析

On the Legal Strategies for Combating Cyber bullying

今日互動式的社交網站（social networking websites）呈現幾何倍數的增長，加上寬頻與行動通訊產業的飛快進展，豐富了現代人的生活，同時卻也帶來新的人際互動問題。所謂的「網路霸凌」（Cyber bullying）-「使用數位科技反覆地折磨、威脅、騷擾或羞辱他人」便是晚近最為社會大眾關心的一個新興社會問題。為了對抗網路霸凌，愈來愈多論者主張應制定專法或修訂既有法律，緩解網路霸凌對網路使用者（尤其是青少年）身心健康的威脅。而論者所倡議的治理機制，其公權力介入的強度高低有別，從最嚴格的直接動用國家刑罰權，到訴諸學校紀律管理，以至最寬鬆的仰賴社群網站的自律，有著多樣性的手段策略。本文在參考分析美國各州的法制經驗後，認為為了對抗網路霸凌採取高強度的管制，不僅與網路開放性的特質相衝突，亦難以通過憲法言論自由的合憲性檢驗。因此本文主張，法制上以「強化學校教育機能」以及「鼓勵、引導社群網站自律」為主要內涵的「低度管制」規範取向，應是當前我國對付網路霸凌最適宜的網路治理策略。

In this age of Internet across the globe, the “social media” no doubt play a major role in our social life by shaping how individuals interact with each other. However, the thriving social media also give rise to many serious and negative side-effects. Cyberbullying, which is usually defined as “willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones and other electronic devices,” is considered the worst phenomenon among others. In recent years, that more and more tragedies resulted from the cyberbullying motivates many states to pass some sort of anti-cyberbullying legislation. Nevertheless, due to the complex nature of the internet governance that is all along tangled with the free speech and autonomy concerns, the regulatory scheme for combating cyberbullying in different states revealed a great diversity一from the most rigid “criminalization” approach to the lenient “private regulation” of the social network website, and somewhere in between, such as relying on school disciplinary measures. Through the sophisticated evaluation by collecting and analyzing some major state’s anti-cyberbullying laws in the United States, this article finally recommends a “de-regulatory approach” which emphasizes the school’s educational role and corrective influence, and sets forth some ideas for legal reform so as to effectively manage the problem of cyberbullying in Taiwan.