Public Security Bureau Punishes Spreading of Rumors Online

Public Security Bureau Punishes Spreading of Rumors Online
Aug 12, 2014 By eChinacities.com

On July 9, Xinhua news reported that several netizens were investigated by the Public Security Bureau and detained a few days ago for spreading rumors online.

The Public Security Bureau discovered recently that some web users had been ‘exploiting the Internet’ in order to fabricate, disseminate and spread rumours from foreign websites. Some of these rumours included “unknown gunshots on Beijing’s fourth ring road”, “sudden fear as radicals go around knocking on doors”, “children’s organs stolen” and “Beijing Tongzhou experiences 2-6 days of earthquakes”.

The four responsible for spreading the rumours -who were identified as Mr Wu, Mr Wang, Mr Ma and Mr Pei- as well as 16 people in charge of website security, have been detained and are awaiting legal action. 84 other people have received official warnings and will be penalized or disciplined.

The Public Security Bureau pointed out in a statement that fabrication and spreading of rumors through the Internet carries legal penalties, and that it counts on the vast amounts of ‘vigilant’ and ‘civilized’ web users on the Internet not to believe such rumors, nor pass them on. It urged websites to assure authenticity, and help uphold a collaborative and healthy Internet environment.

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Keywords: Internet rumors punished

1 Comments

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sorrel

are they really imprisoning people or is it a rumor?

Aug 13, 2014 20:04 Report Abuse