China’s Anti-Gossip Law Could Put Internet Users In Jail

China’s Supreme Court has passed a new anti-gossip law that states anyone found spreading a rumor on the internet faces three years in prison if more than 5,000 people see it, or if it gets reposted more than 500 times.

According to The Telegraph, the new measure was widely criticized as an expansion of the police state onto the internet, which until now has been censored far less stringently than the traditional media.

It didn’t take long before the first arrest was made for breaking the anti-gossip law and resulted in the arrest of a 16-year-old boy.

According to the International Business Times, the boy was arrested Tuesday for spreading a rumor that an alleged suicide was actually a cover-up for a bar manager who may have been beaten to death.

Yang was arrested on the charge of picking quarrels and provoking troubles, and even though others where fined for spreading the rumor, Yang has been the only one arrested.

According to the Daily Mail, the case in question involved a karaoke bar manager who supposedly committed suicide by leaping from a building.

Yang was apparently very skeptical and had apparently posted the claim that the man had been beaten up in a row, and accused the police of failing to investigate fully.

Because Yang’s accusation went viral, the Daily Mail reported that the authorities decided to act.

“People have been hurt and reaction in society has been strong, demanding with one voice serious punishment by the law for criminal activities like using the Internet to spread rumors and defame people,” said court spokesman Sun Jungong with the announcement of the new regulation.

The question then becomes, does this law pertain to everyone? Meaning, will it protect not only the defamation of important figures in society, but also those that suffer from events like cyber bullying?

It will be interesting to see how China‘s anti-gossip law pans out in the future.

[Image via Shutterstock/Minerva Studio]