Do not forward unverified emergency reports or fabricate incident images
Knowingly forwarding a fabricated emergency report can fall under the same rule as making it up. Administrative penalties can include five to ten days’ detention and a possible fine up to RMB 1,000. Serious disruption of social order can bring up to three years, or three to seven years for serious consequences. Fabricated images, including AI-generated “scene photographs,” can count as creating false information.
What it takes
Free. Before forwarding disaster, outbreak, danger, or police information, check whether it comes from an official notice. If unsure, do not repost it, alter an image, or add “apparently” as a substitute for verification. Resist the urge to be first with the news.
What you may gain
Deliberately spreading rumors or falsely reporting danger, an epidemic, a disaster, or a police incident in a way that disrupts public order can bring five to ten days’ detention and an optional fine up to RMB 1,000. Lesser circumstances carry up to five days or a fine up to RMB 1,000. Fabricating such information and distributing it online, or knowingly distributing information someone else fabricated, can constitute a criminal offense when it seriously disrupts social order. The basic range is up to three years; serious consequences bring three to seven years.
Context & considerations
“I only forwarded it” does not remove liability when knowing dissemination meets the legal conditions. Editing or generating a fake incident image can amount to fabrication. The Ministry of Public Security published several groups of disaster- and danger-related rumor cases in 2025, but its website was unavailable during the original research, so no specific case is cited here.
Research & references
Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (2025). Revised Public Security Administration Punishments Law, Article 29. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/fl/202506/t20250627_699863.shtml; Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (2015). Criminal Law Amendment IX, Article 32, adding Article 291-1(2). https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/fl/201802/t20180205_364562.shtml; National People’s Congress (2020). Criminal Law consolidated through Amendment XI, Article 291-1, reposted by Beijing’s traffic-management bureau. https://jtgl.beijing.gov.cn/jgj/jgxx/flfg/fl/11033925/index.html.