□ Our reporter Han Dandong
□ Intern of this newspaper Liu Jinbo
The epidemic situation is undoubtedly the most concerned topic now. However, there are various information about the epidemic, among which there are many false rumors, which can’t be overstated.
"The reason why there are so many rumors is closely related to new media such as Weibo, WeChat and Tik Tok. The new media has made rumors more and more sources, spread faster and faster, and cover wider and wider. " In the interview, Han Yingwei, a senior partner of Beijing Yingke Law Firm, told the reporter of Legal Daily.
Everyone fears for himself when the epidemic comes.
All kinds of rumors flooded the network.
It is understood that most of these rumors about the epidemic have a loud "name", such as a certain media report, a certain expert report, a government announcement, etc., which is easy for some people who don’t understand.
The "Legal Daily" reporter found that these rumors can be mainly divided into several categories: the first category is the relevant measures of the government, such as closing the city in a certain place, not going out at a certain time, and the government arranging planes to spray disinfectant or alcohol. In fact, it is easy to identify the authenticity of such rumors, because local governments will release relevant information through authoritative channels when they take any prevention and control measures.
The second category is related information of novel coronavirus, such as "novel coronavirus was named SARI, which is the evolution of SARS". For such rumors, just pay attention to official information, and the rumors will be self-defeating. In fact, SARI is the abbreviation of severe acute respiratory infections, which means severe acute respiratory infection in Chinese, not the pneumonia infected in novel coronavirus at present, and novel coronavirus and SARS virus are only adjacent to SARS virus in the phylogenetic tree, and do not belong to SARS virus.
The third kind of rumor is the knowledge of virus prevention, which is the most common, such as lactoferrin, anti-influenza drugs, dropping sesame oil into nostrils, etc.
In addition to the above, there are many other rumors. Such as information about the development of the epidemic, deliberately exaggerating the number and severity; For example, in terms of daily necessities, there are rumors that they are no longer available; In terms of assistance, there are false information about donations, rescues and assistance.
Why are there so many rumors? Zheng Ning, director of the Law Department of the School of Cultural Industry Management, Communication University of China, believes that this reflects people’s high concern about the epidemic. There are two main reasons for the rumors: First, the relevant information of government departments is not fully disclosed in time, and the release channel is single and the influence is not enough, resulting in asymmetric public information.
Secondly, popular science is not in place, and professional knowledge is needed to correctly understand and prevent viruses. People generally do not have the corresponding professional knowledge and ability background. People are highly concerned about the epidemic situation, but lack the ability to distinguish. The introduction of virus harm and preventive measures by official and professional institutions is not complete enough, resulting in endless rumors.
In Han Yingwei’s view, the causes of different types of rumors are related to people’s cognition and blind obedience psychology. When the epidemic comes, people are worried that it will spread to themselves, and they often listen and believe blindly. In addition, the emergence of rumors is closely related to people’s psychology of "gossip" and curiosity.
According to Han Yingwei, some lawless elements maliciously spread rumors to attract people’s attention in order to gain illegal interests and achieve illegal purposes. For example, unscrupulous merchants spread masks in short supply, taking the opportunity to raise prices and seek benefits. Of course, it does not rule out that some rumor spreaders do it to satisfy some abnormal psychology, or are manipulated by some illegal forces.
Timely announcement of epidemic situation
Guide the public away from rumors.
It is understood that some rumors are easy to identify, but some rumors are really difficult for the general public to distinguish between true and false.
"This requires the government and relevant institutions to disclose relevant information in a timely manner and promptly dispel rumors. People should pay attention to the official information distribution channels, and don’t trust and spread information with unknown sources. " Zheng Ning believes that accurate information is of great significance for stabilizing social order and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of the public, especially in such sudden public health incidents. Rumors will bring secondary disasters, cause social disorder, and affect the emergency response of professional authorities. Therefore, the public should maintain the scientific spirit and rational judgment ability, pay attention to the information released by the official authority, and don’t forward or spread the information without authoritative verification.
Han Yingwei believes that science is the best rumor "shredder". To block the spread chain of rumors, more medical and popular science workers need to stand up in time, clarify the fallacies of rumors, popularize relevant knowledge, defeat rumors with facts, and smash rumors with science. Maintaining a scientific and rational attitude, objectively understanding the epidemic situation, scientifically preventing the epidemic situation, and effectively preventing and controlling the epidemic situation can inject more positive energy into winning the epidemic prevention and control war.
Nowadays, there are all kinds of information about the epidemic on the Internet. How to prevent it? Han Yingwei said that individuals should keep a clear head, think rationally, don’t believe in rumors, and don’t spread rumors. These rumors can be identified by paying attention to official information. At the national level, it is necessary to publish the latest developments of the epidemic in a timely manner, so that the public can know the development of the epidemic in a timely manner and guide the public to maintain a correct understanding of the epidemic; Increase epidemic prevention measures, increase the intensity of popular science, promptly dispel rumors in official accounts, and encourage and guide more medical practitioners to publicize and scientifically prevent epidemics; Severely crack down on rumors and rumors, investigate their legal responsibilities according to law, and combine prevention with punishment.
Zheng Ning believes that, first of all, government departments should disclose information in a timely and accurate manner, find rumors, deal with them in a timely manner according to law, and actively dispel rumors. Secondly, network service providers should set up a rumor reporting mechanism, accept people’s reports, and deal with rumors in time by deleting information, titles and other measures. Third, the public should improve their ability to distinguish and not believe all kinds of rumors. Fourth, the media should give full play to the advantages of professional reporting and actively guide public opinion.
Different rumors have different punishments.
Civil and criminal responsibilities are two-pronged
Recently, there are not a few people who have been punished for spreading rumors related to the epidemic. On January 23, Xu, a netizen in Shanghai, kept spreading sensational false information such as "More than 32 people died in Shanghai" in the WeChat group. Six days later, the Pudong police arrested Xu and sentenced him to administrative detention for five days.
On January 25th, Xing Moufeng, a netizen in Qian ‘an, spread false information about the prevention and control of novel coronavirus epidemic in a WeChat group, which was forwarded by many people with a large number of screenshots, causing serious adverse effects. Subsequently, Xing Moufeng was administratively detained for 8 days.
There are not a few cases of similar rumors being detained, and some rumors will cause panic; Some rumors will damage the reputation of the government, institutions, enterprises and even some public figures; Some rumors will make people lose money. How to punish the disseminators of these rumors? What kind of punishment will the disseminators of different rumors face?
Zheng Ning told the "Legal Daily" reporter that in general, spreading rumors should bear administrative responsibility. According to the provisions of Article 25 of the Law on Public Security Administration Punishment, those who spread rumors and falsely report the epidemic situation shall be detained for more than five days and less than ten days, and may be fined up to 500 yuan; If the circumstances are minor, they shall be detained for not more than five days or fined not more than five hundred yuan.
For those who cause serious consequences and spread rumors, it constitutes the crime of fabricating and deliberately spreading false terrorist information or the crime of provoking trouble. According to the provisions of the first paragraph of Article 10 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of Laws in Handling Criminal Cases that Hinder the Prevention and Control of Outbreaks of Infectious Diseases, whoever fabricates terrorist information related to disasters such as outbreaks of infectious diseases, or knowingly spreads such terrorist information, seriously disrupting social order, shall be convicted and punished for fabricating and deliberately spreading false terrorist information in accordance with the provisions of Article 291 of the Criminal Law.
According to the second paragraph of Article 5 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in Handling Criminal Cases such as Defamation by Information Network, whoever fabricates false information, or knowingly fabricates false information and spreads it on the information network, or organizes or instructs personnel to spread it on the information network, thus causing serious public disorder, shall be convicted and punished for the crime of stirring up trouble in accordance with the provisions of Item (4) of Paragraph 1 of Article 293 of the Criminal Law.
According to Han Yingwei, rumor mongers bear different responsibilities according to the consequences. In terms of civil liability, if the right of reputation is infringed, it is necessary to bear the responsibility of stopping the infringement, compensating the losses, eliminating the influence, restoring the reputation and apologizing. In terms of administrative responsibility, it is necessary to be detained for more than five days and less than ten days, and may also be fined up to 500 yuan; If the circumstances are minor, they shall be detained for not more than five days or fined not more than five hundred yuan.
In terms of criminal responsibility, it involves the crime of fabricating and deliberately spreading false information, and is sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or control; 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; Defamation is punishable by fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, control or deprivation of political rights; Whoever commits the crime of stirring up trouble shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention or public surveillance, which seriously undermines social order, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than 10 years and may also be fined. "Those who belong to imaginative joinder shall be punished with a felony; If it constitutes multiple crimes, it shall be punished for several crimes. " Han Yingwei said.