Do not share unverified messages about disasters, epidemics, or police incidents in groups; do not photoshop images or use AI to generate fake scene pictures.
Original: eternity4719 · source details
Original author: eternity4719 · Chinese source: · English adaptation: parveen0029. Translation and grade notes ↗
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Cost and benefit at a glance
- Check the cost Cost ↓
- No cost involved. Simply check whether the message is an official announcement before sharing. If you’re unsure, don’t share it, and avoid editing images or add…
- Then the source benefit Benefit ↓
- Those who deliberately spread rumors or make false reports about disasters, epidemics, or police incidents to disrupt public order can be detained for 5 to 10 days and fined up to …
In plain terms
If you know a message about a disaster, epidemic, or police incident is false yet still share it, you’ll face penalties just as severe as if you had fabricated it yourself. Even if you didn’t create the content, you could be detained for 5 to 10 days and fined up to 1,000 yuan. Intentionally disrupting social order can land you in prison for up to 3 years, while causing serious consequences may result in a sentence of 3 to 7 years. Any photoshopped images or AI-generated fake scene pictures are treated as self-created content as well.
This guide's cartoon · show illustration
Enlarge illustrationOriginal illustration with Chinese lettering; the English dialogue is below. Humour is a reading aid, not evidence.
English dialogue
- Apparently...
- According to which source?
Cost: what it takes
No cost involved. Simply check whether the message is an official announcement before sharing. If you’re unsure, don’t share it, and avoid editing images or adding phrases like “allegedly.” The real challenge is resisting the urge to be the first person to spread the news.
Benefit: what the source reports
Those who deliberately spread rumors or make false reports about disasters, epidemics, or police incidents to disrupt public order can be detained for 5 to 10 days and fined up to 1,000 yuan. For less serious cases, the penalty is detention for under 5 days or a fine under 1,000 yuan. Creating and posting fake reports about such incidents online also carries a maximum 3-year prison term, even if you know the content is untrue. This applies only when the actions cause significant disruption to social order, as defined by law. If serious consequences arise, the sentence rises to 3 to 7 years nationwide.
Conditions, limits and disagreements
Sharing known false content carries the same legal penalties as creating it yourself; claiming “I just shared it” offers no exemption. Photoshopped images and AI-generated fake scene pictures are also considered self-created content. In 2025, China’s Ministry of Public Security released multiple batches of typical cases involving online rumors about disasters and emergencies. At the time of writing, the ministry’s website was inaccessible, so no specific examples were cited.
Original references
Original bibliographic titles and links are preserved; some titles are in Chinese.
全国人大常委会 (2025). 治安管理处罚法（2025 年修订，第二十九条）. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/fl/202506/t20250627_699863.shtml；全国人大常委会 (2015). 刑法修正案（九）（第三十二条，即刑法第二百九十一条之一第二款）. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/fl/201802/t20180205_364562.shtml；全国人大 (2020). 刑法（根据刑法修正案（十一）修正，第二百九十一条之一）. https://jtgl.beijing.gov.cn/jgj/jgxx/flfg/fl/11033925/index.html（北京市公安交通管理局转载）
Medical, legal, financial and policy conditions vary by person, place and time. Policy material primarily concerns mainland China; check the cited document and current local requirements.