The Cyberspace Administration of China and the Ministry of Emergency Management have deployed a concentrated clean-up and rectification of illegal and harmful information on disaster accidents during the flood season.

In order to effectively block the spread of illegal and harmful information during the flood season disaster accidents, further regulate the release of flood season disaster accident information, and prevent illegal and harmful information from misleading the public and disrupting rescue order, the Cyberspace Administration of China and the Ministry of Emergency Management recently jointly issued a notice to deploy the centralized clean-up and rectification of illegal and harmful information related to flood season disaster accidents nationwide. The notice focuses on rectifying five prominent issues: firstly, the problem of transplanting and malicious editing. Maliciously editing images or videos of disaster accidents occurring abroad or in other regions, selectively extracting biased information, and disguising them as real-time disasters in the local area through methods such as removing watermarks, changing titles, and substituting subtitles to confuse and mislead the public. Secondly, the problem of rehashing old news and grafting history. Repackaging images or videos of disaster accident scenes from previous years or even decades ago, deleting original time information, falsely claiming them as breaking news, and stirring up panic emotions. Thirdly, the problem of exaggeration and fictional data. Fabricating and exaggerating the disaster situation, deliberately fabricating and exaggerating core data such as casualty numbers, number of houses destroyed, and scale of economic losses, or tampering with disaster levels, fabricating secondary disasters, and disrupting rescue order. Fourthly, the problem of fabricating dangerous situations and impersonating authorities. Fabricating serious false dangers such as "reservoir dam breach," "dyke breach," "chemical plant leakage," etc., misappropriating official institutions and mainstream media names or logos, falsifying official document formats, issuing false announcements, and damaging government credibility. Fifthly, the problem of technological forgery and opportunistic fraud. Using AI generation, stitching and editing, staged scenes, etc., to produce images or videos of disasters, fabricating accident scenes, rescue details, etc. Falsely using disaster situations to publish false donation links, help QR codes, etc., leading to public financial losses and personal information disclosure. The notice requires local cyberspace departments to focus on typical issues and hidden variations of illegal and harmful information related to disaster accidents, conduct comprehensive inspections, supervise website platforms to fulfill their main responsibilities, and improve content review and account management mechanisms. Local emergency management departments should strengthen coordination and cooperation to ensure that the cleanup and rectification work achieves results.