“To a certain extent, rumors are more terrible than viruses.” During the two sessions of the country this year, Zhou Zhonghe, chairman of the China Science Writers Association and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that during the epidemic, many media, The popular anti-epidemic science works have played an important role in guiding the public to respond scientifically to the epidemic situation and scientific life. At the same time, all kinds of pseudo-science rumors spread online, causing public panic, but no legal basis for accountability and law enforcement. “The Science and Technology Popularization Law (hereinafter referred to as the Science Popularization Law) has been in effect for 18 years. The situation in the field of science popularization has been very different. The emergence of a large number of professional science practitioners has also brought a series of new problems. ”


The new mission of science popularization calls for stronger legal protection

Since the implementation of the popular science law promulgated and implemented in 2002, the scientific quality of our citizens has increased from 1.4 in 2001 % Increased to 8.27% in 2018. The popular science law has played a historic role in steadily improving the scientific quality of citizens.

However, in the past 18 years, the popular science law has not been amended or the implementation rules have been formulated. Under the new situation, a series of problems have been encountered, such as the funding of popular science and the science of network technology communication. Sexual seriousness and other issues urgently require more powerful protection by the popular science law.

Zhou Zhonghe told reporters that the latest science statistics show that China ’s per capita special science expenditure has declined year-on-year in 2018, and the growth momentum in recent years has continued to be weak. The corresponding science expenditure index There is also a stagnation in growth, and the disparity in science popularization funds among regions is too large. “In many provinces, the investment in science popularization is far below the average level, which is not conducive to the sustainable development of the overall science popularization work.

“According to the existing science popularization law, local governments cannot be held accountable for not fulfilling the gradual improvement and growth of science popularization funding responsibilities determined by the science popularization law.” Chen Ling, director of the Creative Research Office and secretary-general of the China Popular Science Writers Association, sees that under the existing laws, some regulations have long been “invisible”. As a wing of innovation and development, if there is no corresponding legal protection, it is difficult for the new era science to truly play the same important role as technological innovation.


New technologies bring challenges to the rule of law in science popularization

With the rapid development of information network technology, the media form has changed and the public ’s habit of receiving information has changed , New media represented by Weibo, WeChat, short videosThe system has become the main information circulation medium, and naturally has also become the main channel for the transmission of popular science information.

As the demand for emergency science continues to increase, some online self-media adopt “pictures and truths” in order to pursue click-through rates and even to gain a reputation overnight. The new technology, under the banner of popular science, spreads some false content, false information and even rumors, but it cannot be punished because of the lack of relevant legal provisions.

Zhou Zhonghe believes that since the implementation of the current science popularization law, various departments in the field of science popularization have had mutual constraints in terms of responsibilities and interests, which has led to ineffective implementation of relevant policies in the implementation process. Strong.

Chen Ling concluded that based on the current rule of law in China ’s popular science, it is difficult to respond positively to the dramatic changes in rights and obligations brought about by the new form of popular science, and it is difficult to actively respond to the new popular science phenomenon The ambiguity of the statutory powers and statutory boundaries is more difficult to effectively resolve the collision of ideas and conflicts of rights caused by new popular science disputes.


The new situation calls for strengthening the construction of the popular science rule of law system

“In the past 20 years, China ’s society has experienced rapid development and changes, and more and more technologies Workers participate in science popularization, and information dissemination is more comprehensive, immediate, and interactive. ”Zhou Zhonghe believes that the connotation, mechanism, content, and role of science popularization are undergoing great changes, and a science rule system that is compatible with it is even more necessary. In order to respond and regulate the law in a timely manner, it should be combined with the development trend of informatization, socialization, industrialization and internationalization.

For this reason, Zhou Zhonghe suggested in the proposal that the legal revision work should be started as soon as possible, and the construction of the popular science rule of law system should be considered while revising the law. For example, it is more conceptually people-oriented, safeguards and guarantees the public ’s right to participate in scientific affairs, the right to obtain popular science information, and enjoy the benefits of popular science development; from the content, it strengthens the connection of regulations and strengthens the perfection of popular science laws on local and departmental regulations, Standardize guidance; encourage the dissemination and popularization of scientific spirit, scientific thoughts and scientific methods from the connotation.

“At present, most of the public in our country is on the Internet, especially in the era of national media, the hot issues of social concern are miscellaneous, in order to avoid the spread of pseudo-science The popular science media platform with social influence and instantaneous voice is very important. ”Duan Xuru, Dean of the Nuclear Industry Southwest Physics Research Institute of China National Nuclear Corporation, suggested that members strengthen the cooperation between the scientific associations, scientific research units and other organizations and organizations with the media platform to actively cultivate a batch Authoritative and socialThe popular science media platform. Especially for the hot issues of social concern, these scientific platforms actively disseminate relevant scientific knowledge in a timely manner to respond to the concerns of the masses.

(Original title: Rumors under the banner of popular science but difficult to punish Expert: It ’s time to revise the popular science law)