Men detained for creating thousands of false rumors
Print Edition
Two men have been detained in Beijing for fabricating online rumors and harming the reputation of others, police in the Chinese capital said yesterday.
Yang Xiuyu, founder of the Beijing-based Erma Company, and employee Qin Zhihui, were found to have created and spread thousands of online rumors against authorities and celebrities to attract followers on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, police said.
Yang and Qin were detained on suspicion of provoking trouble and illegal business operations. Four other employees of the company are under investigation, Xinhua news agency reported.
Qin, who went by the online name “Qinhuohuo,” and Yang, posting as “Lierchaisi,” confessed that they deliberately hyped up hot topics and maliciously defamed others in order to gain public attention and profits.
Qin told police he had spread some 3,000 rumors online.
Yang established Erma in March 2010 and Qin joined the company in the same year.
They told police that Internet users should be manipulated to believe that they were the “victims of social injustice” and only “anti-social activities could help them vent their dissatisfaction.”
In an interview broadcast by China Central Television, Qin told police: “I knew I was bothering the public’s thoughts, which posed potential safety risks to social order.”
The false information included accusations that the government had granted 200 million yuan (US$32.7 million) compensation to a foreign passenger who died in a bullet train accident in 2011. The rumor was retweeted 12,000 times in two hours and provoked anger among Chinese Internet users.
They also targeted Lei Feng, a name known throughout China for helping others during the 1960s, and Zhang Haidi, regarded as China’s Helen Keller.
The rumors claimed that Lei, a model solider known for his modest lifestyle, actually had a luxurious life, and that Zhang, chairwoman of the China Disabled Persons Federation, had changed her nationality to Japanese.
Qin and Yang also promoted Net celebrities such as Gan Lulu, notorious for near-naked poses, and Luo Yufeng, known as Sister Feng, a woman who shot to fame after posting provocative advertisements for marriage.
In 2011, the suspects exploited the Guo Meimei scandal, where a woman claimed to head an organization linked with the Red Cross Society of China and posted photos online detailing her lavish lifestyle.
The scandal greatly damaged the charity’s credibility and donations plunged as a result.
The pair allegedly started rumors that local civil servants must donate money to the Red Cross Society and maligned the country’s charity system.
China has been carrying out a campaign to crack down on online rumors, and government authorities have said that Internet users should bear in mind basic moral principles and deter false information to create a sound Internet realm, Xinhua reported.
A judicial interpretation regarding online rumors will be issued soon, police said.
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