Experts in China are calling for stricter criminal sanctions to those caught fabricating and spreading rumors online, following the authorities' crackdown on what they call a rampant spread of rumors on the Internet.

"Spreading rumors online infringes on people's individual rights," said Beijing Yue Cheng Law Firm chairman Yue Cheng. "In some serious cases, it could induce public panic, which could damage the social management order."

China now has a number of laws and regulations which outline punishments to be meted out to rumormongers, including criminal law and regulations on information services on the Internet.

According to the criminal law, promulgating rumors, or raising false alarms about accidents or epidemics, doesn't necessarily constitute a crime, but the perpetrator can be detained or fined, Yue said.

Otherwise, if crimes are constituted, including libel, infringement of business reputation and interruption of social order, he will be prosecuted for relevant criminal responsibilities.

China has nearly 500 million Internet users and more than 300 million microbloggers, who release almost 200 million posts on microblogging sites daily. Microblogs have become an influential field of public opinion.

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