45 punished for sowing terror attack rumors

Forty-five people have been punished for provoking panic and disturbing public order by fabricating and spreading rumors about violent attacks in various Chinese cities in the wake of the terror attack in Kunming, Yunnan province, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) announced Thursday.

Several people were put in administrative detention and others were given warnings when information they posted on online social networks such as QQ, WeChat and Weibo, was identified as rumors, the ministry said on its Weibo account.

A total of 29 people were killed and 143 were injured in the Saturday terrorist attack in Kunming, when eight terrorists from Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region went on a stabbing rampage into the crowds at the local railway station.

One Net user surnamed Wang from Zhejiang province wrote online Monday that attackers from Xinjiang had killed more than 10 people near the West Lake in provincial capital Hangzhou and injured over 80 others, said the MPS.

The same day another Net user from Sichuan province posted on Weibo that three attackers "speaking dialect of an ethnic minority group" slashed at passers-by in Chengdu with knives longer than 60 centimeters.

Another post appeared on an online forum on Tuesday, claiming that a captured suspect confessed that there were more terrorists in other cities in Yunnan, including Dali, Tengchong, Lijiang and Honghe.

"The group will attack in different squads at 5 pm today," read the post. It warned people not to wander around or go to public places like transport terminals and restaurants.

It also called for reports and notifications of the message to family and friends.

The MPS called on residents to observe laws and regulations and keep the community, both online and offline, in order. It advocates no rumor-spreading among Net users and suggests people report to authorities if they discover any.

The Supreme People's Court released interpretations specifying offenses punishable by the Criminal Law in September 2013. A person posting a rumor could face up to three years in prison.