Article 11 of the Constitution stipulates that people’s freedom of speech should be protected. Due to the fact that freedom of speech is a necessary mechanism for the development of a democratic diverse society because it contributes to self-fulfillment, communication, pursuing truth, satisfying people’s right to know, forging consensus, and participating in political and social activities, the State should protect it as much as possible. Depending on the means of communication, however, freedom of speech is subject to suitable restraints in order to protect other fundamental rights, such as personal reputation and privacy, and to safeguard the public interest. As to whether the approach should adopt civil remedies or criminal punishments, or both, any restraints should comprehensively take the following elements into account: citizens’ law-abiding habits, respect for others’ rights, the function of civil remedies, and media workers’ professionalism and discipline. In our State, it cannot be said that criminalization of defamation is unconstitutional based on the abovementioned factors. Furthermore, if the law allows anyone to avoid a penalty for defamation by offering monetary compensation, it would be tantamount to issuing them a license to defame, which is obviously not in line with the constitutional protection of the people’s fundamental rights. Article 310, Paragraph 1 provides “A person who points out or disseminates a fact which will injure the reputation of another for purpose that it be communicated to the public commits the offense of slander and shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than one year, short-term imprisonment, or a fine of not more than five hundred yuan.” Paragraph 2 of the same Article stipulates that “A person who by circulating a writing or drawing commits an offense specified in the preceding paragraph shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than two years, short-term imprisonment, or a fine of not more than one thousand yuan.” By distinguishing libel from slander and imposing different penalties, these two provisions are necessary to prevent violation of others’ freedoms and rights and therefore are consistent with the proportionality principle in Article 23 of the Constitution.