BEIJING, Sept 10 — Chinese Internet users who post comments deemed defamatory by authorities could go to jail for three years if the statements are read by more than 5,000 people, the Supreme Court said, as leaders tighten control on information following several high-profile corruption cases.
Users also may be accused of defamation if the “rumours” they post online are reposted more than 500 times or cause the target to mutilate themselves, commit suicide or experience mental disorders, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. Xinhua cited an interpretation released yesterday by the Supreme People’s Court and Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
The new rules step up the ruling Communist Party’s campaign against what it calls online rumour-mongering as authorities seek to exert greater control over the nation with the world’s most Internet users. China passed a law in December requiring people to identify themselves when signing up for Internet and phone services.
“With the backing of the law, this Internet crackdown campaign will no longer be a tiger without teeth,” Zhao Jing, an activist in Beijing for Internet Freedom in China, said in an interview. “For a long time the Internet was a place to expose corruption. Now the local government can use this defamation law as a tool to crack down on such activities.”
Blogger arrest
Zhao pointed to the arrest of celebrity venture capitalist Charles Xue, who writes a popular and politically sensitive microblog under the pen name Xue Manzi. He was arrested last month for allegedly hiring prostitutes.
China, home to more than 591 million Web users by the end of June, censors the Internet by blocking access to websites with pornography, gambling and content critical of the Communist Party’s rule.
Social media sites including Sina Corp’s microblogging Weibo service have become platforms used by Chinese citizens to expose corruption and wrongdoing in a country where all domestic newspapers, television and radio stations are state-owned.
A vice chairman of China’s economic planning agency was fired in May after a Chinese journalist posted allegations of improper business dealings on his microblog. Another official, Yang Dacai, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for graft this month after Internet users spotted pictures of him wearing expensive watches and began investigating him through crowd- sourcing efforts.
Sina, Tencent
Liu Qi, a Beijing-based spokesman for Sina, didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail and text message asking what actions the site was taking to respond to the judicial interpretation. Sina and Baidu Inc were among the Chinese Internet companies that jointly created a website in August for refuting rumours.
China has sought to tighten control of information spread through microblog services and social media through a series of crackdowns. In March 2012, the comment functions on Sina and Tencent Holdings Ltd’s microblog services were halted for 72 hours after authorities detained six people for spreading rumours of a coup attempt in Beijing.
The eastern province of Zhejiang investigated 118 people who spread online rumours and false information, the provincial police said in a statement posted on its website in August.
The Beijing police detained a journalist surnamed Liu who allegedly created and spread rumours, according to the law enforcement’s official Sina Weibo account.
The official Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday that those charged with “defamation” also could be deprived of their political rights.
“Authorities in the future could selectively use this as a tool to punish people,” said Pu Zhiqiang, a civil rights lawyers in Beijing specialising in libel cases and press freedom. “But this can’t last long, say if you do arrest all the people spreading rumors, would you have a big enough jail to hold up all of them.” — Bloomberg
