How was the rumor of "preschool teachers feeding contraceptives to young children" broken down? Police provide detailed information | Rumors | Contraceptive pills
Focus Interview | Eliminating Rumor "Tumor" and Purifying Network Environment
We are in an era of self media where everyone has a microphone, and we receive a vast amount of information every day. Even sensational rumors often spread rapidly on the internet. These online rumors are confusing and highly misleading, causing great harm. They not only harm people invisibly, but also undermine social trust and disrupt social order. It is imperative to strengthen governance, eradicate the "cancer" of online rumors, and purify the online environment.
"Stealing children", "cutting organs", "exorbitant search for dogs", "volcanic eruptions"... In the era of self media, an unfounded paragraph, screenshot, or video, accompanied by exaggerated descriptions and sensational headlines, can often generate huge traffic in a short period of time and attract a lot of attention.
On June 19th this year, a news online about "preschool teachers feeding contraceptives to young children" attracted the attention of netizens. A netizen named "Little Problem Water" said, "I am a preschool teacher, and all the teapots in our class have been physically punished by me." "Every day, a small teapot is used to put contraceptive pills in their meals.". The netizen referred to the "little teapot" as a little boy. As soon as the statement was made, it was immediately widely forwarded, and relevant information quickly fermented on the internet.
Researcher Zhi Zhenfeng from the Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: This is a highly sensitive social topic aimed at young children, especially their health. Therefore, once this topic is raised, it can easily touch the most sensitive nerves and the most vulnerable part of society.
What's even more concerning is that the group chat screenshots only mention sensitive words such as "preschool teacher", "corporal punishment", and "contraceptive pills", without mentioning the specific time and location of the occurrence. So many parents are afraid that their children will be violated illegally, and some netizens have raised questions about the employment threshold for preschool teachers.
Wu Ruiming, Deputy Director of Xinghualing Branch of Taiyuan Public Security Bureau in Shanxi Province: Firstly, he did not specify which city it was, and secondly, he did not specify which kindergarten it was. Therefore, many parents are very panicked and worried about whether their children are victims. Many parents suspect that their children may have taken contraceptive pills due to their children's illness.
Under the unified dispatch of the Cybersecurity Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, the Shanghai Cybersecurity Department promptly verified that the real identity of the netizen "Little Problem Water" was Tian, a male from Shanxi. The Shanxi police started working overnight, and around 10 pm that evening, Tian was summoned to the case in accordance with the law.
Kang Wei, Deputy Squadron Leader of the Dunhuafang Police Station of Xinghualing Branch of Taiyuan Public Security Bureau, Shanxi Province: At first, he did not admit that "Little Problem Water" was his own registered username. On the one hand, there was direct evidence pointing to his real name registration, and later he was told about legal policies, which basically broke through his psychological defense line. He also explained that "Little Problem Water" was the username he used and made inappropriate comments on the platform.
After police investigation, it was found that Tian himself is not a preschool teacher, and neither he nor his relatives have any experience in preschool education.
Yang Kaiyuan, a police officer of the Internet Security Brigade of Xinghualing Branch of Taiyuan Public Security Bureau, Shanxi Province: We conducted electronic data inspection on his mobile phone according to law, and combined with auxiliary information, we did not find the fact that he bought a large number of contraceptives, nor did we find the hiding of contraceptives in his vehicle and residence. We believe that it is a rumor, and we just published such information on the Internet simply to win traffic.
The case was quickly uncovered, but it caused a huge uproar on the internet. Due to the sensitive content related to "early childhood health" and "early childhood education", the attention of netizens is extremely high. At around 10 o'clock on June 20th, the Weibo topic had a reading volume of 300 million times, ranking first on the hot search list. At 10:46, the Taiyuan police issued a "Police Situation Report" to clarify the facts and respond to the concerns of netizens.
Start with a picture and rely entirely on editing. A complete rumor has alarmed parents, created opposition, torn apart people's hearts, and even polluted the online ecosystem. Although the suspect Tian has been detained, the impact has not ended. More than 50 media outlets, including People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency, and CCTV News, have forwarded police reports to spread the truth and provide positive feedback. However, the attention of netizens remains high, with over 750 million views on the Weibo topic of "a man falsely pretending to be a female preschool teacher and being detained for feeding medicine to young children.".
It can be seen that the characteristics of online rumors in the era of self media are faster dissemination speed, larger dissemination volume, wider impact, and greater harm compared to the past. Tearing apart society and creating opposition not only breaks through the moral bottom line, but also involves suspected illegal activities.
Zhang Junbing, a second level inspector of the Cybersecurity Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security: In terms of speed, the characteristics reflected in the spread of online rumors are often explosive and explosive, instantly spreading throughout the entire network, which is a very prominent feature. Driven by the traffic economy, there are many cases of self media practitioners spreading rumors. They often fabricate events mainly for the purpose of attracting followers and profits.
In April of this year, the Guangdong police investigated and dealt with an online rumor case of "being kidnapped and demanding a ransom of 500000 yuan" involving self writing, directing, and performing. The parties involved, in order to attract traffic and profit, directed and performed a farce of being kidnapped. They posted short videos with sensitive words on a certain social media platform, such as "I was kidnapped, the kidnapper is so fierce, and the kidnapper charges my godfather 500000 yuan". These videos were widely shared by unsuspecting netizens, disrupting social order and wasting police resources.
Chen Sen, a police officer from Longcheng Police Station of Longhua Branch of Shenzhen Public Security Bureau, Guangdong Province: We have deployed around 30 to 40 police officers to verify a suspected location. At the same time, a 5-person disposal team was arranged to go to Futian to search for him.
After two hours of searching, the police found the video publisher Chen Mouhao at a club in Futian District and were surprised to find that he was the protagonist who was kidnapped in the video.
Chen Sen, a police officer from Longcheng Police Station of Longhua Branch of Shenzhen Public Security Bureau, Guangdong Province: When he saw us, he was also very surprised, very guilty, and stuttered. After further investigation, he confessed to us that he had not been kidnapped in such a situation.
Journalists have tracked and found that in the era of self media, another important feature of online rumors in the new situation is the obvious trend towards intelligence. Some rumor makers use AI synthesis and deep forgery techniques to create images, audio and video that are close to reality, and fabricate words to spread them. Some exaggerate and others coexist with reality, subverting the public's conventional understanding that "there is truth when there is image," making it difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood in online rumors.
Even if there is a video, there may not be the truth. On June 2nd this year, the Zhejiang police cracked a case of using AI technology to create false videos, fabricate online rumors, and illegally make profits. A video of a major fire in Shaoxing Shangyu Industrial Park is a highly synthesized AI technology, which appears to be a false broadcast event. In reality, the video is actually edited and pieced together from other online fire scenes.
The reporter learned that since mid May, the gang has been using AI synthesis technology to automatically generate fake videos in order to attract followers and profit, illegally profiting more than 40000 yuan through platform rebates. As of the incident, more than 18000 false videos have been fabricated, with 20 videos causing adverse effects.
Through AI synthesis technology, criminals have greatly reduced the threshold for producing fake videos, some of which can be completed in just one minute. However, when this technology is applied to the production of fake articles, it has become a high-risk area for illegal activities. In June of this year, a picture article titled "Mianyang university students suspected of prostitution for over 800 times, earning over 1.2 million yuan, successfully arrested by the police" attracted onlookers. Later, it was confirmed by the police that the article was automatically generated by AI software as a false one. In March of this year, the Shandong police cracked a major case of spreading rumors and attracting online followers. A certain media company used group control software and artificial intelligence technology to crawl short video content from both domestic and foreign sources, tamper with and fabricate sensitive social events, and publish false information on online platforms. Through its operation of more than 40000 self media accounts, there were over 800000 false post information.
Researcher Zhi Zhenfeng from the Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: On the content side, using deep synthesis technology and generative large models, it is very easy to even generate text, images, videos, and audio information with just one click in some aspects. On the one hand, it is more convenient to create rumors, and on the other hand, it is more difficult to identify and monitor rumors.
Through in-depth investigation by reporters, it was found that in addition to some "online water armies" spreading false information, creating hot topics, creating a rhythm, and seeking economic benefits, there are also some illegal elements who use online rumors to carry out extortion. Since March this year, Zhang and three others in Shandong have operated multiple "big V" accounts with over a million followers, specifically fabricating and publishing false information targeting units or individuals, and using multiple accounts to share comments and engage in hype, taking advantage of the opportunity to extort and extort victims from units and individuals, seriously disrupting social order and causing a negative impact.
Zhang Junbing, a second level inspector of the Cybersecurity Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security: In the new situation, especially in the face of the new characteristics of the spread of online rumors, new requirements have been put forward for the public security organs to crack down on online rumors. In particular, the punishment for platforms and accounts that fabricate and spread online rumors should be further increased. For those who refuse to cooperate or fulfill their main responsibilities, we should carry out "one case, two investigations". While punishing the rumormongers, we should also investigate and punish the platforms that spread online rumors, cut off the transmission chain of online rumors, and effectively control the gateway to the spread of online rumors.
To crack down on and rectify online rumors, it is necessary to strengthen source control. The organizers, planners, and main implementers who maliciously fabricate and spread rumors must be severely punished in accordance with the law in order to truly serve as a warning.
Since April this year, the Cyber Security Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security has deployed a 100 day special action to crack down on online rumors. The national public security organs have investigated more than 2300 cases, rectified nearly 8000 Internet platform enterprises, closed more than 21000 illegal accounts in accordance with the law, and cleared more than 705000 pieces of online rumor information, which has formed a strong deterrent to online rumor crimes.
Researcher Zhi Zhenfeng from the Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: Firstly, consolidating the main responsibility of the platform is a key link, which can timely identify, detect, and deal with online rumors; Secondly, it is necessary to identify the key chain of interests, as a large number of online rumors are actually organized. For example, groups with "water armies" need to cut off the chain of interests in order to attract traffic and attract attention to the economy; The third step is to increase the efforts to deal with online rumor mongers in accordance with laws and regulations, and form a comprehensive governance system throughout the entire chain and process, in order to prevent and stop online rumors.
Recently, the Central Cyberspace Administration issued a notice on strengthening the management of "self media", requiring website platforms to timely mark rumor tags, use algorithmic recommendation methods, and improve the reach rate of debunking information; All self media that produce and publish rumors, speculate on social hot topics, or disseminate illegal and harmful information in a matrix style, causing adverse effects, will be closed. In addition, in this era of self media, every ordinary netizen is a node of information dissemination. As netizens, we also need to improve our ability to discern information. We should not trust, forward, or spread information from unknown or unverified sources. Let's work together to prevent the spread of online rumors and create a clear online environment.
