State media says crackdown on rumours should include offending officials

State media has said the expanding national crackdown on internet rumours should extend to government officials and departments that knowingly publish falsehoods in a bid to distance themselves from blame or criticism.

Xinhua listed four examples of "official rumours" in its article yesterday. It pointed to the National Energy Administration, which late last year said a veteran journalist's claim that former director Liu Tienan was tied to fraud was "sheer slander". Liu was eventually sacked and is under criminal investigation for suspected bribe-taking.

The other three examples involved local government agencies, all of which had in the past denied online allegations about their staff but were proved to be true by later investigations.

Xinhua itself is guilty of publishing unsubstantiated claims. The news agency picked up a report earlier this month by the New Evening Times, out of Harbin . The newspaper article claimed former NSA intelligence contractor Edward Snowden had dropped a bombshell revelation that Russia - and not the United States - was the first to land on the moon.

The source for the claim was a Twitter account that appeared to belong to the fugitive. The influential Beijing Evening News quoted the Times several days later and more official media outlets, including Xinhua, the People's Daily and CCTV, followed suit.

The warning against such "official rumours" came amid a campaign against online rumours, which the Ministry of Public Security launched last week. Enforcement has intensified in recent days.