China Launches Campaign Against Online Flood Misinformation and Scams

China's top internet regulator and emergency management ministry have launched a nationwide crackdown on illegal and harmful online content related to flood season disasters. The joint campaign targets five major categories of misconduct, including maliciously edited media, recycled historical disaster footage, exaggerated casualty statistics, false emergency announcements impersonating official bodies, and AI-generated forgeries linked to fraudulent fundraising scams. Local authorities have been instructed to conduct thorough inspections and mandate stricter content moderation across online platforms.

During peak disaster periods, online rumors and deceptive content can directly impede emergency response efforts and trigger public panic. Misleading claims regarding dam breaches or fabricated rescue scenarios risk misallocating vital emergency resources. By coordinating online content governance with emergency management agencies, Beijing aims to safeguard official communications and prevent financial fraud that exploits public sympathy during natural disasters.

China's Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) and the Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) have jointly issued a directive launching a nationwide campaign to clean up illegal and harmful online information concerning disasters and accidents during the flood season. According to official notices released by Xinhua and the CAC, the campaign aims to curb the spread of online rumors, prevent public panic, and stop misleading content from interfering with emergency rescue operations. The directive identifies five specific categories of online misconduct targeted for immediate remediation. The first category involves malicious editing and context-switching, where creators alter media from foreign or out-of-region incidents by removing watermarks, changing titles, or editing subtitles to falsely present them as real-time local emergencies. The second targets the recycling of historical media, where photos or videos from previous years or decades are re-packaged without timestamps to pass off as current news. The third focus area covers exaggerated data and fabricated reports, including false casualty counts, exaggerated property damage figures, and tampered disaster severity levels. The fourth addresses fabricated high-risk emergencies—such as fake reports of dam breaches, dike collapses, or chemical leaks—along with unauthorized use of official logos or media identities to publish fake announcements that undermine government credibility. Finally, the directive targets technological forgeries and fraud. This includes using AI tools, staged acting, or spliced clips to create synthetic disaster images and videos, as well as posting fraudulent donation links or QR codes that lead to financial loss or personal data theft. Under the directive, local cyberspace departments are required to conduct comprehensive reviews, address emerging variants of online misinformation, and compel online platforms to enforce strict content moderation and account management procedures. Local emergency management departments have been directed to strengthen coordination to ensure effective enforcement.