China's Supreme People's Procuratorate: Focus on cracking down on black and evil crimes committed through the use of “soft violence” on online platforms

China's Supreme People's Procuratorate recently deployed procuratorial organs nationwide to deepen the special campaign against organized crime, requiring a focus on cracking down on black and evil crimes carried out with the help of online platforms and “soft violence” methods. According to reports, in the first half of this year, procuratorial organs nationwide prosecuted 3,042 people for black and evilrelated crimes. The Supreme People's Procuratorate said that it will continue to maintain a highpressure stance against black and evil crimes, and keep advancing the crackdown around major cases, cutting off the financial lifeline, and “taking down the umbrella and breaking the network.” The Supreme People's Procuratorate also stressed that it is necessary to identify industry disorder and governance problems behind black and evil crimes from individual cases and similar cases, and promote prevention and rectification in key industries, key regions, and key personnel, so as to reduce the space for black and evil crimes to emerge. The authorities also reiterated that only when “soft violence” in cyberspace or in real society reaches a level of harm equivalent to violence or threats, and causes particularly serious consequences, may it be identified as a crime by a ganglike organized criminal group.