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RFA: China’s Attacks on Rumors Was Not Meant to Protect Freedom of Speech

According to RFA, China has recently attacked many of those who were alleged to be “spreading rumors on the Internet.” In the meantime, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) told Xinhua that “attacking Internet rumors helps to protect the freedom of ‘proper’ speech.” CNNIC said that they can’t allow the Internet to be full of rumors: “If we don’t stop rumors, it is no different from destroying the internet, which no other country in the world would allow.” According to RFA, a large number of microblog postings supporting CNNIC’s actions of attacking rumors have appeared repeatedly on a number of online news websites.

Many people believe that the action of attacking “online rumors” is in fact an attack on freedom of speech. "Why do they think that they have the authority to determine what is a rumor and what is not?" One Internet expert told RFA, "Many people were telling the truth, but they ended up being arrested. Where is freedom of speech when that happens?"

Source: Radio Free Asia, September 28, 2013
http://http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/meiti/sy-09282013132334.html