The punishment standard for spreading rumors on the Internet depends on the seriousness of the facts involved. According to Article 291 of the Criminal Law, whoever fabricates false danger, epidemic situation, disaster and early warning information and spreads it on information networks or other media, or knowingly spreads it on information networks or other media, thus seriously disrupting social order, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance; If serious consequences are caused, they shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years. Subjectively, this crime must be intentional. The actor knows that he is spreading false facts that can damage the reputation of others, knows that his actions will lead to harmful results that will damage the reputation of others, and hopes that such results will happen. The actor's purpose is to discredit others. If the actor misunderstands false facts as true facts and spreads them, or spreads some false facts for the purpose of damaging the reputation of others, it does not constitute libel.
The boundary between slander and insult.
The object of these two crimes is the personality and reputation of others. The main differences are:
(1) Insult is not fabricated, but slander must be fabricated facts.
(2) Insults include violent insults, and libel does not use violent means.
(3) Insult is often carried out in front of the victim, while slander is spread in public or to a third party.
The boundary between libel and false accusation.
Both of them are aimed at specific objects and implemented by fabricating facts. The difference is:
(1) The fabricated facts are different. False accusation and frame-up are fabricated criminal facts, while libel is fabricated facts that can damage others' personality and reputation.
(2) Different behaviors. False accusations and frame-ups are reported to government agencies and relevant departments, while libel is publicly spread or spread to third parties.
(3) Different subjective aspects. The intention of false accusation and frame-up is to subject others to criminal punishment, and slander is to damage others' personality and reputation.
The essence of spreading rumors on the Internet is that criminals infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of others and personal rights through disinformation and other means. Judicial organs can conduct legal investigation and evidence collection according to the characteristics and constitutive requirements of related crimes, and impose comprehensive punishment according to the actual factual consequences and the seriousness of the circumstances involved, so as to avoid mistakes in applying the law.
I hope the above content can help you. If in doubt, please consult a professional lawyer.
Legal basis:
Article 25 of the People's Republic of China (PRC) Public Security Administration Punishment Law stipulates that
Anyone who commits one of the following acts shall be detained for more than five days and less than ten days, and may be fined not more than five hundred yuan; If the circumstances are relatively minor, they shall be detained for not more than five days or fined not more than 500 yuan: (1) spreading rumors, falsely reporting dangerous situations, epidemic situations or police situations, or intentionally disturbing public order by other means. (two) throwing fake explosions, toxic, radioactive, corrosive substances or infectious disease pathogens and other dangerous substances to disturb public order; (3) Threatening to set fire, explode or throw dangerous substances to disturb public order.
Article 29 1 of the Criminal Code of People's Republic of China (PRC).
Whoever fabricates a false danger, epidemic situation, disaster situation or warning situation and spreads it on the information network or other media, or knowingly spreads it on the information network or other media, thus seriously disrupting social order, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance; If serious consequences are caused, they shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years. Article 246 stipulates that whoever publicly insults others by violence or other means or fabricates facts to slander others, if the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, public surveillance or deprivation of political rights.