In a modern society, law is the bottom of line. Not only does an individual need to adhere to the bottom line, but also should this search phenomenon.

Criminal law not a quick fix

Deng Yuwen (Oriental Morning Post): Some people may argue that the human flesh search engine is spying on ordinary people who are disadvantaged. If the search action is not punished, more people's privacy will be exposed. The law must interfere under this circumstance.

However, the law has not given a clear definition whether the home address, work address and telephone numbers are private and require protection. To date, the human flesh search engine has not done anything immoral or deliberately affected people's privacy. Fundamentally speaking, this mode of searching is not against the law. It is just one of the ways of probing into an individual's personal information, just as you would ask one's friends or relatives for his/her address or telephone numbers.

Internet has been developing in China for no more than 10 years and this way of searching is a new thing. Therefore, it's unavoidable to see some extreme cases. Once the negative effects of this engine begin to spread, its damage may expand too. In this sense, I'm not opposed to the standardization of the use of this engine. The standardization, however, is not supposed to be based on the Criminal Law, but is to improve the management of the Internet, requiring websites that offer a human flesh search service to protect every Internet user's privacy.

Ruan Zhanjiang (Information Times): Of the entire legal system, the Criminal Law can impose the toughest penalties. Only when all other means are ineffective to control the situation will the Criminal Law be considered.

When trying to find the truth of certain incidents, Internet users expose such private information as photos or ID card numbers or home addresses of the people involved. As for the protection of people's privacy, the police can even punish those who use the human flesh search engine to harass others in accordance with the Criminal Law.

If present civil and administrative laws can still be applied to this search engine, why do we have to turn to the Criminal Law?

Even if the Criminal Law is used to deal with this phenomenon, it's possible that problems will arise. This engine is a searching tool for tens of thousands of netizens to freely chat about issues on online forums and in chat rooms. They frequently change the site on which they speak along with their aliases. In the process, it's not easy to monitor and find someone who is part of the search group.

Many facts have proven that if the Criminal Law is abused in dealing with social disputes, it will not only cost more legal resources, but the prestige and deterrence of the Criminal Law will be affected and the result may not be so ideal.

Xiao Chang (Changjiang Times): The human flesh search engine makes use of technology to realize the communication of information. It makes searching more detailed and delicate.

However, this is a two-sided coin. The engine may threaten an individual's privacy, but it can also help to find someone, even criminals. This engine is not a totally bad thing, but it has some potential to be intrusive.

Current laws and regulations have clauses to deal with disputes that this search engine might incur and it's unnecessary to modify the current Criminal Law to deal with this issue.

I believe any technology has its role to play in modern society. It's just unwise to eliminate it with a law, especially a criminal law.

Zou Yunxiang (Modern Express): China's current criminal, civil and administrative laws can all be used to deal with cases related to the human flesh search engine. This is why the engine cannot harm individuals freely.

The fact is that we are still unclear how much the human flesh search engine will impact on the protection of citizens' privacy only several years after this searching method was invented. We need to be patient to see if it can evolve in a proper way and if the searchers will become self-disciplined in this process.