China has been hit by a spate of natural disasters recently, with floods, tornadoes, and other calamities occurring one after another in Guangxi, Guangdong, Hubei, Gansu, Sichuan, and other regions, while disaster relief efforts are still ongoing. On the 13th, China’s Ministry of Public Security announced at once 25 cases of “online rumor-mongering crimes” related to the disasters, with a total of 27 people implicated. The social media accounts of these 27 individuals were not only banned, but four were criminally detained, while the remaining 23 were administratively punished.
According to Jiemian News, the 25 cases listed by the Cybersecurity Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security involve Guangdong, Guangxi, Zhejiang, Hubei, and other provinces and regions recently affected by floods.
The Ministry of Public Security stated some netizens, “for personal gain, maliciously fabricated false information related to floods and disasters, seriously disrupting flood relief efforts and causing negative impact.”
According to the information released, the four people criminally detained are all from Guangdong, three of whom are Guangzhou residents. The four used software to make “special effects videos” or manipulated images and footage, releasing online content such as rural flash floods, night markets inundated by torrential rains, and ‘sea views’ outside residents’ homes during heavy rains, stirring panic among netizens.
Among the 27 implicated individuals, six are from Guangxi, the area hardest hit by the recent flooding. According to the Ministry of Public Security, they sought online attention by misappropriating pictures from the internet and manipulating or repurposing them into short videos and texts posted on Chinese social media platforms including Douyin, Jinri Toutiao, and WeChat.