Time:2026.08.18
In recent years, against the backdrop of rapid development in Internet technology and industry, and stimulated by the "flow economy", the breadth of content, speed of dissemination, frequency of updates, scope of influence, and social harmfulness of online rumors have significantly increased. To further purify the online environment, maintain network order, and leverage the participation, construction, and supervision roles of the vast number of netizens in promoting the legalization of cyberspace, as well as to identify and resist harmful information and use the internet reasonably, the following initiatives are hereby issued:
1. Resist online rumors
Do not create, believe, or spread online rumors. Do not spread falsehoods, fan the flames, or disseminate reports without sources or evidence, disclose privacy, make personal attacks, or spread negative comments.
II. Adhere to civilized internet use
Establish a correct network moral view, actively resist and report various online rumors, establish a correct view of network order and safety, improve the ability to distinguish right from wrong in online behavior, use network language civilly, respect others, enhance the awareness of network civilization, and strive to be a messenger of network civilization.
III. Identifying online rumors
Internet rumors refer to unfounded, offensive, and purposeful false information spread by individuals with ulterior motives through online media. Internet rumors are characterized by exaggerating the severity of events, taking things out of context, and distorting the truth. They spread rapidly, thus easily causing adverse effects on normal social order. To determine the authenticity of an event you see, you can judge from the following perspectives:
1. The authority of the article published. Pay attention to whether there is a signature or source indicated at the end of the article, and judge whether it is published by an authoritative media or institution, to avoid being biased by the author's subjective speculation.
2. Objectivity of content and viewpoints. When reading, one should pay attention to whether the article contains expressions such as exaggerating facts, taking a partial view, misinterpreting, making extreme statements, or being irrelevant to the topic.
IV. Clarify legal responsibilities
1. Civil liability
If spreading rumors infringes upon the reputation rights of individual citizens or the goodwill of legal entities, according to the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, the individual or entity shall bear the responsibility to cease the infringement, restore the reputation, eliminate the impact, offer an apology, and compensate for the losses.
2. Administrative responsibility
Article 25 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Administrative Penalties for Public Security: Anyone who commits any of the following acts shall be detained for not less than 5 days but not more than 10 days, and may be concurrently fined not more than 500 yuan; if the circumstances are relatively minor, he shall be detained for not more than 5 days or fined not more than 500 yuan:
(1) spreading rumors, falsely reporting dangerous situations, epidemic situations, or police situations, or deliberately disrupting public order by other means;
(2) Disrupting public order by releasing false dangerous substances such as explosive, toxic, radioactive, corrosive substances or infectious disease pathogens;
(3) Threatening to disturb public order by committing arson, explosion, or releasing dangerous substances.
3. Criminal responsibility
Article 105 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China: Whoever incites subversion of state power or overthrow of the socialist system by spreading rumors, engaging in defamation, or other means shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention, public surveillance, or deprivation of political rights; ringleaders or those with major crimes shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years.
Article 221 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China: Whoever fabricates and spreads false facts, thereby damaging the business reputation or product reputation of another person, causing significant losses to such person or involving other serious circumstances, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than two years or criminal detention, and shall also, or shall only, be fined.
Article 246 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China: Whoever publicly insults another person by violence or other means, or fabricates stories to slander another person, if the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, public surveillance, or deprivation of political rights.
Article 291-1, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China: Whoever fabricates false information about dangers, epidemics, disasters, or emergencies and disseminates it on information networks or other media, or knowingly disseminates such false information on information networks or other media, seriously disrupting social order, shall be sentenced to not more than three years of fixed-term imprisonment, criminal detention, or public surveillance; if the consequences are serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years.
Police reminder: Online rumors pose serious threats and are deeply abhorred by the general public. The cybersecurity departments of public security organs will continue to deeply promote the special action to crack down on and rectify online rumors, and will crack down on a number of organizers, planners, and main perpetrators who maliciously fabricate and spread online rumors in accordance with the law. They will also crack down on a number of "cyber water army" gangs that use hot-button issues to spread rumors and drive traffic for illegal profit, rectify a number of internet enterprises with prominent online rumor issues in accordance with the law, clean up and shut down a number of illegal and irregular online accounts, resolutely curb the high incidence and frequent occurrence of online rumors, effectively create a clear and clean cyberspace, and safeguard national political security and overall social stability.
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