[Legal Awareness Campaign] Cracking Down on Online Rumors

I. What Are Online Rumors?

Online rumors refer to unverified hearsay disseminated through digital platforms such as Weibo, foreign websites, online forums, social networking sites, and messaging apps. These rumors typically cover topics including breaking news, public health issues, food and drug safety, political figures, challenges to traditional norms, and deviant or unconventional behavior.

II. The Dangers of Online Rumors

Rumors spread suddenly and at an extremely rapid pace, thereby easily undermining normal social order. The fabrication and dissemination of online rumors not only violate laws and regulations such as the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, the Cybersecurity Law of the People’s Republic of China, and the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China, but also run counter to the core socialist values, harm national sovereignty, security, honor, and interests, and impede social harmony, stability, and development. Therefore, combating online rumors in accordance with the law requires resolute and forceful measures.

III. Cases of Online Rumors

During their investigations, the Siping cyber police discovered that an internet user known as “Northeast Hai Ge XX” had posted a series of videos on a short-video platform, claiming that, due to family disputes, a son-in-law had killed his wife and her family of three. The user also alleged that, over a dispute about harvesting green beans, a worker had been beaten to death. These two videos drew widespread attention from netizens, accumulating more than 2 million views in total.

The cybersecurity authorities promptly launched a multi‑pronged investigation and confirmed that all the content in question was entirely fabricated. The inquiry revealed that Song, a resident of Siping, Jilin Province, had concocted false information, including “murder case details,” in an effort to boost the popularity of his short‑video account. During questioning, Song fully admitted to fabricating the rumors. In light of his actions, which violated relevant provisions of the Public Security Administration Punishment Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Siping Municipal Public Security Organs imposed an administrative penalty: seven days of administrative detention and a fine of 300 yuan. His account has also been closed.

Indeed, the world is full of all sorts of strange and unexpected things. But no one should fabricate vicious rumors—such as “committing murder and arson” or “slaughtering an entire family”—just to attract attention. This netizen’s behavior is highly typical and entirely wrong; let us all take it as a cautionary tale. The fleeting allure of traffic may lead you into the quagmire of spreading falsehoods, ultimately resulting in severe legal consequences.

IV. Relevant Laws and Regulations

Under Chinese law, liability for online rumors may entail civil liability, administrative penalties, or criminal liability, depending on the severity of the circumstances.

Below, we’ll provide a quick overview of China’s legal provisions on addressing online rumors, helping you maintain a clear head in the complex digital landscape and steer clear of the traps of misinformation and temptation.

Civil Liability [Legal Basis]: Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China

Article 1024. Civil subjects shall enjoy the right to reputation. No organization or individual may infringe upon another’s right to reputation by means of insult, defamation, or other such acts.

Reputation is the social evaluation of a civil subject’s character, prestige, abilities, and creditworthiness.

Article 1025: Where a person, in the course of engaging in activities such as news reporting or public opinion supervision in the public interest, causes damage to another’s reputation, such person shall not bear civil liability, except in any of the following circumstances:

(1) Fabricating or distorting facts;

(2) Failing to exercise due diligence in verifying seriously inaccurate information provided by others;

(3) Using insulting language or other means to defame another person’s reputation.

Article 1194: Where an internet user or an internet service provider infringes upon the civil rights and interests of others by means of the internet, they shall bear tort liability. Where otherwise provided by law, such provisions shall apply.

Administrative Liability for Violations [Legal Basis]: The Public Security Administration Punishment Law of the People’s Republic of China

Article 25, Paragraph (1): Anyone who spreads rumors, falsely reports an emergency, an epidemic, or a police incident, or deliberately disrupts public order by other means shall be subject to administrative detention for no less than five days but no more than ten days, and may also be fined up to 500 yuan; in cases of lesser severity, the penalty shall be administrative detention for no more than five days or a fine of no more than 500 yuan.

Criminal Liability [Legal Basis]: Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China

Article 246: Crimes of Insult and Defamation

Whoever publicly insults another person by means of violence or other methods, or fabricates facts to defame another person, and where the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of no more than three years, criminal detention, public surveillance, or deprivation of political rights.

Article 291-1, Paragraph 2: Crime of Fabricating and Intentionally Spreading False Information

Whoever fabricates false information regarding safety hazards, epidemics, disasters, or police alerts and disseminates it on the information network or other media, or who knowingly disseminates such false information on the information network or other media, thereby seriously disrupting social order, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of no more than three years, criminal detention, or public surveillance; if serious consequences are caused, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of no less than three years but no more than seven years.

Article 293, Paragraph 1, Items (2) and (4): Crime of provoking trouble

Anyone who, by engaging in any of the following acts of provoking trouble and disrupting social order, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of no more than five years, criminal detention, or public surveillance:

(2) Pursuing, intercepting, verbally abusing, or intimidating others in circumstances deemed particularly egregious;

(4) Engaging in disruptive behavior in public places, thereby causing serious disorder.

Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases Involving Defamation and Other Offenses Committed via Information Networks (Fa Shi [2013] No. 21)

Article 5: Anyone who, by means of information networks, insults or intimidates others in circumstances that are serious and disrupt social order shall be convicted and punished for the crime of provoking trouble, in accordance with Paragraph (2) of Article 293, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Law.

Whoever fabricates false information, or knowingly disseminates such fabricated false information on the information network, or organizes or instructs others to do so, thereby inciting disturbances and causing serious public disorder, shall be convicted and punished for the crime of provoking trouble in accordance with Article 293, Paragraph 1, Item (4) of the Criminal Law.