The Legal System Construction of the Right of Response under the Civil Code System

Abstract

In the era of self-media, news infringement cases are frequent, and the right to respond provides a solution to balance the freedom of media expression with the interests of citizens' personality rights. The right of reply system in various countries is expanding in response to the changes in media forms, but China has not established a right of reply system. Based on Article 1028 of the Civil Code, the right of reply in the era of self-media is defined as providing relief for citizens' reputation, urging media responsibility, alleviating court pressure, and optimizing social supervision. Based on the characteristics and functions of this right, drawing from the legislative experiences of foreign countries such as Germany and the United States, further arrangements are made for China's right of reply system in terms of the subject of rights, subject of obligations, conditions for exercise, and methods of exercise, mainly limiting public power organs and their officials as the subject of rights, including self-media as the subject of obligations, distinguishing response content into facts and opinions as conditions for exercise, and choosing equal and effective response methods based on different media forms. Regulating the right of reply according to the principle of proportionality, exploring the injunctive relief system of personality rights as a remedy for the infringement of rights including the right of reply.