Public status of WeChat divides expert opinion

Police in East China's Zhejiang Province arrested two people and fined 46 for spreading false information on the Internet as a part of a nationwide campaign to crack down on rumormongers, the Hangzhou-based Qianjiang Evening News reported on Tuesday.

The Zhejiang Provincial Public Security Department announced on Monday that more than 18,200 pieces of false information have been cleared, 118 people investigated and 67 cases built. Police have also closed 1,978 illegal websites and online stores, while more than 200 online accounts were suspended.

One of the Internet rumors stated that six criminals had broken out of jail and killed 78 women in Tonglu county, Zhejiang Province in August and triggered a disturbance among local people. Another rumor said 567 call girls in Ninghai county's KTV and foot massage parlors are AIDS patients, who spread the disease to other people.

"People created these rumors to vent their frustration toward society and their own life," said Zhejiang Internet police chief Ding Renren, adding that "Others use rumors as a tool for blackmail."

The achievements of fighting against online rumors in Zhejiang are only part of the nationwide campaign to crack down on organized online rumormongers.

Shanxi police investigated 144 cases of online rumors, detaining 49 people, and plan to arrest 23 for violating laws, the Shanxi Daily reported on August 21. They added that police deleted 5,148 pieces of illegal information and shut down 27 websites.

In Hebei, police removed 124 online rumors that disturbed Internet order and social stability, and detained 11 suspects since June, the China Police Daily reported on Saturday.

In Shanghai, police investigated 32,000 online rumors between May and July, resulting in the arrest of 3,876 suspects. They also shut down 1,746 illegal websites and 3,494 illegal programs, the Shanghai-based Orient Morning Post reported in July.

"Considering the serious situation of online rumors and false information, police nationwide are using this campaign to rectify the chaotic situation on the Internet," said Wang Sixin, a professor of media law at the Communication University of China.

Police officer Ding also suggested spreading false information on WeChat should be considered illegal as WeChat offers a public platform for social networking, reported Qianjiang Evening News.

His opinion was opposed by He Wenkai, a prosecutor for the Fangchenggang People's Procuratorate in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

He said on his Tencent Weibo on Tuesday that WeChat is different from public platforms because user information can only be viewed by "confirmed friends" of the sender and cannot be accessed by the public. Whether WeChat is a public platform requires further discussion, added He.