Xinhua reported that a Mr. Zhou was taken into custody because he forwarded an online message that a doctor in Yichang City, Hubei Province died of bird flu.
According to the police, Mr. Zhou, in Yichang City, saw the message on a microblog on February 9. “Without confirming the authenticity, [he] forwarded the message and synchronized the posting with his Tencent microblogging, causing adverse effects.”
“On February 10, the Zigui County Public Security Bureau captured the suspect Zhou. According to the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Penalties for Administration of Public Security, Article 25, paragraph 1, netizen Zhou was sentenced to seven days of detention as punishment for spreading rumors.”
[Article 25: A person who commits one of the following acts shall be detained for not less than 5 days but not more than 10 days and may, in addition, be fined not more than 500 yuan. and if the circumstances are relatively minor, he shall be detained for not more than 5 days or be fined not more than 500 yuan: (1) intentionally disturbing the public order by spreading rumors, making false reports of dangerous situations and epidemic situations, or raising false alarms or by other means; …]
Source: Xinhua, February 12, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2014-02/12/c_119303802.htm
http://www.npc.gov.cn/englishnpc/Law/2007-12/13/content_1384114.htm