Blogger becomes first to be jailed in China's official crackdown on internet rumours
Qin Zhihui, the first blogger sentenced under rules Beijing introduced last year to control social media, jailed for 'slander' and 'picking quarrels and provoking troubles'
A Chinese court jailed a blogger for three years on Thursday, state media reported, the first person to be sentenced in a government-led crackdown on so-called internet rumours.
Qin Zhihui, who was among hundreds of bloggers reportedly detained in an official campaign to assert greater control over China’s popular social media, was found guilty of “slander” and “picking quarrels and provoking troubles”, state broadcaster CCTV said.
China has said the rumour crackdown launched last year is aimed at maintaining social order, but rights groups have accused Beijing of limiting freedom of speech online to protect the ruling Communist Party.
Prosecutors at a Beijing district court said Qin had “impacted society and seriously harmed social order” by posting a series of inaccurate reports on Sina Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, the official Xinhua news agency said.
It added that the 30-year-old had posted several false reports, including one saying Beijing had granted 200 million yuan (HK$251 million) in compensation to a foreigner who died in a train crash in east China.
Reports said Qin had run a “black PR” firm, taking money from companies to post comments online discrediting rivals. He pleaded guilty and apologised for his crime at a hearing last week, Xinhua said.
Separately, Chinese-American blogger and outspoken government critic Charles Xue was released on bail on Wednesday after being arrested in August for suspected involvement in prostitution and “group licentiousness”, a euphemism for group sex.
