In order to confirm whether there were any suspected cases of H1N1 influenza in Bazhong from the relevant departments, Xie, a staff member of a township civil affairs office in Bazhong city, posted a thread titled "One suspected case of H1N1 influenza was found in Bazhong today". After the post was released, it immediately caught the attention of many netizens. For a time, rumors about the discovery of a suspected case of H1N1 influenza in Bazhong spread widely, causing panic among some residents. Yesterday, reporters learned from the Public Security Bureau of Bazhou District, Bazhong City that Xie had been administratively detained for five days for spreading false information online and disrupting public order.
Netizens Spread H1N1 Rumors Causing Panic
At around 8 pm on the evening of the 16th, a netizen named "Mingming from Bazhong" posted a thread titled "[Attention] One suspected case of H1N1 influenza was discovered in Bazhong today" on a forum. At the same time, netizens "hpp1228" and "Mingming from Bazhong" also successively posted threads on the forum asking "Can the Health Bureau confirm if this is true?"
Reporters saw online that although the content of the post was brief, it caused a huge stir in Bazhong City. In just one day, the post received 2,544 views. Many residents went to the People's Hospital of Bazhou District to check the situation on-site or called the Health Bureau of Bazhong City to verify the information.
According to reporters' understanding, the release of the content of the post was related to a common cold patient admitted to the People's Hospital of Bazhou District, Bazhong City on the morning of June 16th. "At the time, a female patient in her twenties visited the hospital due to fever and was placed under isolation for observation. That afternoon, experts promptly determined it to be a regular fever, not a suspected case of H1N1 influenza," said a medical staff member of the People's Hospital of Bazhou District. The Health Bureau of Bazhong City and the People's Hospital of Bazhou District were forced to post辟谣 (clarifications) online subsequently.
Police Investigation Lasting Four Days Identifies the Netizen Spreading False Information
"The negative impact of this post was too great. Within a few hours, the news that a suspected case of H1N1 influenza was discovered at the People's Hospital of Bazhou District (Jiangbei) spread throughout the city of Bazhong with over 200,000 people," said a responsible person from the Public Order Brigade of the Public Security Bureau of Bazhou District, Bazhong City. "In the afternoon of the 17th, the Bazhong Municipal Public Security Bureau instructed us to investigate and handle the matter according to the law."
According to Xu Yinglin, head of the network monitoring department of the Public Security Bureau of Bazhou District, on the morning of the 18th, a special investigation team was formed by the Public Order Brigade of the Public Security Bureau of Bazhou District. With the assistance of the Network Monitoring Detachment of the Bazhong Municipal Public Security Bureau, the case was clarified on the 22nd. It turned out that the netizen "Mingming from Bazhong" was Xie (male, 29 years old, associate degree), a staff member of the Civil Affairs Service Center of a certain township in Bazhou District. Upon interrogation, Xie confessed that he did not maliciously spread rumors but merely liked to post hearsay online without realizing the extent of trouble it would cause. On the evening of the 16th, after having dinner with friends, he heard that a suspected case of H1N1 influenza was discovered at the People's Hospital of Bazhou District (Jiangbei) that morning. Therefore, at 20:56 that evening, he used his registered username "Mingming from Bazhong" to post false information titled "One suspected case of H1N1 influenza was discovered in Bazhong today" on the forum. Soon after the post was made, it was quickly viewed, forwarded, and commented on, causing extremely adverse effects in society.
Administrative Detention for Five Days
"According to Article 25, Paragraph 1 of the 'Law on Public Security Punishments', Xie's posting of false information has disrupted public order. After approval by the Public Security Bureau of Bazhou District, we imposed an administrative detention penalty of five days on Xie on June 23, 2009," said Yuan Yu, political instructor of the Public Order Brigade of the Public Security Bureau of Bazhou District yesterday. This is already the second public security case in Bazhou District where an employee was detained for posting false information online.
Yesterday, reporters saw on the forum an apology announcement from netizen "Bazhong Mingming" to the netizens of the Bazhong Forum: "On the evening of June 16, I posted a thread titled 'A suspected case of H1N1 influenza was discovered in Bazhong tonight' on the Bazhong Forum. At the time, I wanted confirmation from the relevant departments, but I didn't expect to cause panic among leaders and the masses, leading to social unrest. For this, I deeply regret it. Now, I sincerely apologize to everyone. In the future, I will certainly abide by the 'Internet Management Regulations', not post unverified information, and surf the internet rationally. Please forgive me!" (Wang Tao, Zhang Ting)