New rulings target false terrorism claims

People who fabricate or spread untrue information about terrorism, such as claiming a fake bomb on a plane, might face criminal punishment of more than five years in prison, according to judicial interpretations released by the Supreme People's Court on Sunday.

The interpretations define what kind of actions should be categorized as fabricating and spreading untrue terrorist information, and specify what constitutes "social disorder" and "serious consequences" to make posters of false information accountable under the Criminal Law.

Sun Jungong, spokesperson of the court, said at a press briefing held on Sunday in Beijing that the lack of detailed definitions of some key concepts in the current Criminal Law has led to different understandings among local courts, resulting in inconsistent sentences for crimes of fabricating or spreading untrue information about terrorism. The release of the interpretations is expected to tackle this judicial problem.

According to a statement made by the court, fabricating false information about terrorism or consciously disseminating it despite knowing its untruth, is punishable under the Criminal Law if it results in "social disorder."

Six types of consequences are defined as "social disorder," including chaos in densely populated public areas, such as airports, bus stations, piers and shopping malls, and affecting the scheduled running of aircraft, trains and ships, according to the interpretations.

If flights are forced to return or trains to stop due to false terrorist threats, those involved will face severer criminal charges.

Chinese airlines and airports have suffered more than 80 cases of false terrorist threats so far this year, causing panic among the public, said Lü Guanglun, a court official, on Sunday's press briefing.

The highest criminal punishment for this type of crimes is up to five years in prison.

"Some Internet users release such information merely for fun or to attract more public attention," Lü said, adding that if such action doesn't cause any of the six stipulated consequences, they won't be punished under the Criminal Law, but they still have to face civil or administrative punishment.

"All Internet users should watch their tongue and take responsibility for what they say," Lü noted.

If the untrue information results in "serious consequences," namely more than three people being slightly wounded or more than one severely wounded, or causes direct economic loss more than 500,000 yuan ($81,750), extra charges could be added, resulting in more than five years imprisonment.

The release of the interpretations, the second judicial document aimed at curbing online crimes within a month, is seen by some as a move of the authorities to further tighten the regulation online.

"The release of the interpretations will help police and local courts reduce mistakes in trials and in combating the crime of fabricating or spreading untrue terrorist information. It doesn't target freedom of speech online," Liu Tao, an associate professor of the People's Public Security University of China, told the Global Times on Sunday in Beijing, adding that the interpretations would protect freedom of speech in the future rather than undermine it.

"The interpretations provide a new judicial weapon to protect my clients, like Wu Hongfei, from abuses of power," Chen Jiangang, lawyer of Wu Hongfei, told the Global Times.

Wu, a Beijing singer, who expressed anger to the government on her Weibo microblog by saying that she wanted to blow up two government buildings, was arrested by police for fabricating untrue terrorist information in July and triggered wide debate online, with many Internet users criticizing the police detention by saying that Wu was clearly using exaggerated rhetoric and that she took no action.

The police then changed Wu's criminal charges into administrative detention and released her shortly after.