China punishes 197 people including journalists for spreading rumors online

zainab quadri

August 31, 2015 11:08 AM

Chinese police have "punished" 197 people for spreading what authorities call "rumours" about China online, including comments on the country's recent stock market plunge and the Tianjin explosions.

China's media environment is one of the world's most restrictive and it seems there is no end in sight.

Today, Chinese police arrested 197 people for spreading what authorities call "rumours" about China online, including comments regarding the country's recent stock market plunge and theTianjin explosions.

The Xinhua new agency cited the Ministry of Public Security, reporting that 165 accounts had been closed down in relation to the violations, which "caused panic, misled the public and resulted in disorders in stock market or society."

Besides the deleted accounts, it appears that journalists are also being targeted in the police-led rumour sweep. State media reports that Wang Xiaolu, a journalist with Caijing magazine, was detained for his reports on China's stock market woes.

Wang has reportedly "confessed" to spreading false information based on "hearsay" and making "subjective guesses" in his report.

After the recent Tianjin disaster, the Chinese government's censorship department deleted blogs and Weibo posts that raised uncomfortable questions about the explosion.

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