China Cracking Down on Internet Rumor Mongering
Three years in prison threatened
China unveiled on Monday tough measures to stop the spread of what the government calls irresponsible rumors, threatening three years in jail if untrue posts online are widely reposted, drawing an angry response from Chinese internet users.
China is in the middle of yet another crackdown on what it terms "online rumors", as the government tries to rein in social media, increasingly used by Chinese people to discuss politics, despite stringent censorship.