Beijing Labels 80,000 Online Posts As ‘Rumours’

China’s top cyberspace watchdog has labelled some 80,000 online posts as “rumours” since August in a campaign targeting “online rumours and false information”. According to the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), it has organised 12 major Chinese digital news portals and social media platforms to “refute and label rumours” related to “key social and livelihood areas” including health, food safety, education, employment, and natural disasters, reports The Epoch Times. The CAC required all key websites and platforms to set up special accounts or columns to release “rumour-refuting information” and to “send rumour-refuting content accurately to all users who have been exposed to rumors,” according to the statement. Posts that are labelled “rumours” are to be exposed “in a timely manner” on the relevant platforms so as to “squeeze the living space of online rumours to the maximum extent so as to ensure there is no space for online rumours to hide,” reads the statement.