Also Accused of Inciting Netizens to Insult and Obstruct Research Staff
Two online content creators in China have been sentenced to prison for spreading fake news online, including allegations of "giant panda abuse."
Giant panda 'Pobao' was revealed at the Sichuan Panda Base in June last year, about two months after being returned to China (this photo is not directly related to the article). Photo by Yonhap News
On July 2, Yonhap News, citing China's state-run CCTV, reported that the Dujiangyan People's Court in Sichuan Province recently sentenced Bai (surname) to one year and six months in prison, and her husband Xu (surname) to one year and two months, both on charges of causing public disorder.
The couple was indicted on charges of spreading fake news from March 2023 to May last year, in order to gain popularity, influence, and financial profit. The false reports claimed that Chinese panda researchers abused giant pandas or sought personal gain. Some of the fabricated news also alleged that research staff had been arrested for illegal activities.
The two spread these fake news stories using live broadcasts and short-form videos on online platforms. Police stated that the false videos they uploaded accumulated a total of about 545,000 views, were shared over 1,200 times, and received more than 9,000 comments.
The couple also faces charges of inciting netizens to report, accuse, insult, or interfere with research institutions and staff.
This case came to the forefront on June 13 last year, when dozens of people staged a protest at the Dujiangyan Base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. At that time, unidentified protesters gathered outside the base, held up banners, shouted at giant panda visitors, and some filmed videos.
Police determined that some protest participants had organized multiple offline demonstrations through social networking service (SNS) groups. According to police, these participants provided materials collected at the protests to influencers such as Bai, who then edited and broadcast the content, which became the source of online rumors about giant pandas.
Meanwhile, as global interest in giant pandas surged last year, unverified rumors and fake news about panda abuse and unethical experiments spread widely on Chinese internet platforms. In response, the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda reported those spreading false information to the police and launched a special section titled "Refuting Rumors" on its official Weibo account to actively counter the misinformation.
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