Rules to combat online rumours ‘unconstitutional’, say experts

China's first legal document on controlling online rumours has sparked public outrage, with legal experts saying it is a violation of the constitution.

The judicial interpretation, which took effect yesterday after being jointly issued by the country's top court and prosecution body, has granted such unprecedented power to security authorities that web users can easily be charged for spreading false information online, analysts say.

The top court's spokesman Sun Jungong said in a press conference on Monday that the interpretation was finalised after in-depth research lasting more than a year, and both the court and prosecutors made extensive efforts to seek feedback from both government bodies and legal professionals.

But law experts said the so-called judicial interpretation was in fact a de facto revision of the law which neither the top court nor the top prosecuting body had the right to do.

"Constitutionally, such major revision of the law can only be made after review by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature," said Wang Cheng, a Zhejiang-based lawyer who wrote an open letter to the committee to request the interpretation be repealed, saying that it contradicted the constitution.

The 1982 constitution clearly states that only the NPC Standing Committee has the right to revise laws or to issue judicial interpretations, but in reality the court and the prosecution would sometimes take the latter role, Wang said.

The new rules set out a list of charges by which an internet user can be punished when it comes to spreading online rumours, including stirring up trouble, a controversial and vague charge for which offenders can be sent to prison for up to 10 years.