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Criminal Law Revisions Further Undercut Online Freedom, Citizens' Right to Know

(New York) – The latest revisions to China's Criminal Law impose up to seven years in prison for "spreading rumors" about disasters, Human Rights Watch said today. The revised law, which took effect November 1, 2015, does not clarify what constitutes a "rumor," heightening concerns that the provision will be used to curtail freedom of speech, particularly on the Internet.

"The revised Criminal Law adds a potent weapon to the Chinese government's arsenal of punishments against netizens, including those who simply share information that departs from official version of events," said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch. "The authorities are once again criminalizing free speech on the Internet, which has been the Chinese people's only relatively free avenue for expressing themselves."

The National People's Congress Standing Committee approved the addition of a provision to article 291(1) of the Criminal Law (Criminal Law Amendment Act (9)), which states that whoever "fabricates or deliberately spreads on media, including on the Internet, false information regarding dangerous situations, the spread of diseases, disasters and police information, and who seriously disturb social order" would face prison sentences—with a maximum of seven years for those whose rumors result in "serious consequences." The vagueness of the provision means that individuals doing nothing more than asking questions or reposting information online about reported local disasters could be subject to prosecution.

In the past, the Chinese government has detained netizens who questioned official casualty figures or who had published alternative information about disasters ranging from SARS in 2003 to the Tianjin chemical blast in 2015, under the guise of preventing "rumors."

The revision was made in the context of a wider effort to rein in online freedom since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2013:

In August 2013, the authorities waged a campaign against "online rumors" that included warning Internet users against breaching "seven bottom lines" in their Internet postings, taking into custody the well-known online commentator Charles Xue , and closing popular "public accounts" on the social media platform "WeChat" that report and comment on current affairs; In September 2013, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate (the state prosecution) issued a judicial interpretation making the crimes of defamation, creating disturbances, illegal business operations, and extortion applicable to expressions in cyberspace. The first netizen who was criminally prosecuted after this took effect was well-known blogger Qin Huohuo , who was sentenced to three years in prison in April 2014 for allegedly defaming the government and celebrities by questioning whether they were corrupt or engaged in other dishonest behavior; In July and August 2014, authorities suspended popular foreign instant messaging services, including KakaoTalk , claiming the service was being used for "distributing terrorism-related information"; In 2015, government agencies such as the State Internet Information Office issued multiple new directives, including tightening restrictions over the use of usernames and avatars , and requiring writers of online literature in particular to register with their real names; In 2015, the government has also shut down or restricted access to Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), which many users depend on to access content blocked to users inside the country and also help shield user privacy; In March 2015, authorities also deployed a new cyber weapon, the "Great Cannon," to disrupt the services of GreatFire.org, an organization that works to document China's censorship and facilitate access to information; In July 2015, the government published a draft cybersecurity law that will requires domestic and foreign Internet companies to increase censorship on the government's behalf, register users' real names, localize data, and aid government surveillance; and In August 2015, the government announced that it would station police in major Internet companies to more effectively prevent "spreading rumors" online.

Activists in China are regularly prosecuted for speech-related "crimes," Human Rights Watch said. The best known of these crimes is "inciting subversion," which carries a maximum of 15 years in prison. But authorities have also used other crimes such as "inciting ethnic hatred," as in the case of human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, who has been detained since May 2014 for a number of social media posts questioning the government's policies towards Uighurs and Tibetans.

While providing the public with accurate information during disasters is important, the best way to counter inaccurate information would be to ensure that official information is reliable and transparent, Human Rights Watch said.

Above all, journalists should have unimpeded access to investigate and inform the public about these events, and the wider public should have the freedom to debate and discuss disaster response.

"The casualties of China's new provision would not be limited to journalists, activists and netizens, but the right of ordinary people and the world to know about crucial developments in China," Richardson said. "The best way to dispel false rumors would be to allow, not curtail, free expression."