Ten punished in China over accusations of spreading misinformation about floodspublished at 13:13 BST
Laura Bicker
China correspondent
Chinese authorities have punished 10 people who are accused of spreading misinformation online.
The rumours suggested the number of missing or dead was vastly more than officially reported figures, according to a statement by the cybersecurity bureau of China’s Ministry of Public Security.
They cited the case of one individual, surnamed Qiu, had shared online that “the news reports 1,400 fatalities, but in reality 3,000 people had previously been reported missing”, while another surnamed Liu had said more than 3,000 people died in China as a result of the mudslide, the statement added.
The report did not specify what punishment each person received.
China has been censoring footage from the floods, fearing instability in the region, but on Monday said it is releasing information "openly, transparently and in a timely manner".






















