Around 200 people arrested in China for spreading stock market rumors

Authorities in China have arrested 197 people because for spreading rumors online regarding the crash of stock market and deadly Tianjin explosions, Xinhua state news agency said.

Among those that were arrested includes stock market officials and a journalist. Chinese shares dropped by 8 percent, which planted fear across global markets. Meanwhile, the Tianjin explosions death toll has risen to 158 with 15 of these people still unfound.

On August 12, a Tianjin warehouse housing toxic chemicals exploded leaving hundreds of people dead and almost 400 people wounded. There are still 367 people in the hospital with 20 of them still in critical condition.

On the other hand, the UK Financial Times as cited by BBC said that Chinese leaders believe that they have not managed their efforts to save their stock market. It said that the Chinese government decided to ditch their efforts in boosting the stock market and instead improve their efforts to penalize people known to threaten the market.

Chinese authorities observe firm control of online information and internet users that have spread rumors have been punished. The rumors they have spread included a man jumping to death in Beijing because of the drop in stock market. These stories also included Tianjin explosion death tolls to have reached 1,300 people.

Xinhua also mentioned that the rumors included China's plans to celebrate the 70^th anniversary of World War II. Journalist Wang Xiaolu was arrested and accused of helping spread fake information regarding stock market slump, the news agency said.

Xinhua further reported that Wang confessed that his report on the Chinese stock market were based on rumors and his own guesses and that he did not conduct needed verifications regarding the hearsays.

Chinese authorities have introduced a three-year sentence for those proven to spread rumors. The said punishment is said to be applicable to those who will post online a false story that would be viewed 5,000 times or reposted 500 times.

An example to this punishment was made last year when Qin Zhihui was imprisoned for three years. Qin, a blogger, was proven guilty of "picking quarrels and provoking troubles" and slander.