3 years in jail for spreading "online rumors" in China

Can this kind of rule hold in Nigeria? Chinese authorities have further tightened controls of its social media, warning that people who post comments deemed libelous and that are re posted 500 or more times will face defamation charges and up to three years in prison.

Judicial authorities have said the rules would also apply to people whose posts are viewed by at least 5,000 Internet users.

The decision issued Monday comes as authorities wage a campaign to clamp down on what they term "online rumors," but which critics say amounts to curbing free speech. State media have accused some microbloggers of undermining socialism and Communist Party rule, and promoting Western values through lies and negative news.


Police around the country have rounded up hundreds of web users on the charge of spreading online rumors. In one case, a journalist was detained in central China after he made allegations that a senior official had been derelict with his duties. In another case, a man was detained in southern China after he said a group of revolutionary martyrs were actually bullying bandits. In eastern China, a man was taken into police custody after he erroneously reported 16 fatalities in a car accident on his microblog. The death toll was 10.

The new rules issued by China's Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate provide some clarity on how authorities will prosecute Internet speech-related activities deemed illegal.

The rules define "serious cases" of such postings by the social and financial damage caused.

The state broadcaster, China Central Television, said the rules would safeguard freedom of speech while fighting online crimes.

Some bloggers have responded to the new rule by suggesting that microblogging-service providers offer the option of limiting the number of reposts to fewer than 500.