Initiative Letter on Actively Safeguarding Online Order During Flood Prevention and Disaster Relief

Recently, extreme rainfall has struck Northeast China, North China, and the Huanghuai region, leaving many residents stranded and causing casualties. Rescue forces across the country have swiftly mobilized to support frontline disaster relief efforts, dedicating themselves fully to flood control and emergency response. At this critical juncture—when the entire nation is united in solidarity and working together to mitigate disaster impacts—some internet users have fabricated and disseminated false information about the situation, stoked regional antagonism and discrimination, and seriously disrupted online public opinion, thereby hindering and obstructing relief and rescue operations. To further purify the online environment, uphold digital order, and ensure that the overarching narrative of national unity, concerted disaster relief and recovery, and robust protection of people’s lives and property remains firmly in place, we call on all to become active participants and supporters in flood prevention and disaster relief. Accordingly, we hereby issue the following appeal:

I. Consciously resist the online dissemination of illegal and harmful information.

1. Firmly resist illegal and harmful information. Do not create, believe, or disseminate illegal, harmful, or negative information related to disasters and disaster relief; do not spread misinformation; do not incite panic or unrest; and refrain from arbitrarily sharing unverified reports, privacy‑breaching content, personal attacks, or offensive remarks.

2. Strictly regulate information‑posting accounts. Strengthen manual review and qualification verification of account information, rigorously prevent the impersonation or imitation of Party, government, military agencies, news media, local governments, and user accounts, and strictly control “self‑media” accounts that fail to meet qualification requirements and engage in the production of specialized‑field content. The manipulation of “self‑media” account networks for the purpose of publishing is strictly prohibited.

3. Strictly regulate the content of information posted. When users publish news, they must indicate the source in accordance with relevant regulations; for self‑taken content, they must clearly mark the time and location of each recording; for technologically generated content, a “technologically generated” label must be applied; when citing past events or old reports, the date and location of the incident must be specified; and for posts containing fictional or dramatized content, a “fictional/dramatized” label must be added. For information that is questionable or suspected to be false, platforms will affix “disputed” or “rumor” labels and, in accordance with applicable rules, implement measures such as traffic throttling, debunking, and silencing.

II. Uphold a “zero-tolerance” policy toward illegal and harmful information.

4. Strengthen awareness of online civility. Cultivate a sound sense of online ethics, proactively resist and report all kinds of illegal and criminal activities as well as vulgar and harmful behaviors on the internet, resolutely combat online illegal and criminal activities, and spare no effort to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the state, society, collectives, and individuals.

5. Strengthen positive public opinion guidance. By refining platform covenants and user agreements, we will enhance measures for managing fan counts and monetization permissions. For accounts that violate laws or regulations, we will impose sanctions—including account suspension, silencing, restrictions on acquiring new followers, bans on adding new followers, and even the removal of all followers—depending on the severity of the violation. Additionally, user accounts engaging in coordinated multi‑account operations to exploit flood‑control and disaster‑relief hot topics or sensitive events for malicious marketing will have their monetization permissions revoked or be strictly prohibited from obtaining such permissions.

6. Actively foster a healthy online public opinion environment. For “self-media” accounts, the affiliated MCN agency will be clearly identified. As for MCN agencies that leverage their contracted accounts to engage in coordinated hype or repeatedly violate regulations, measures such as restricting monetization privileges, limiting service provision, and removing them from the platform will be imposed.

III. Actively mobilize and leverage the positive energy of online platforms.

7. Establish and improve oversight and reporting mechanisms. Encourage users to participate in the platform’s information‑content management by collecting and reporting illegal or harmful content, exposing and denouncing rumors and false information, proactively providing relevant leads to regulatory authorities, and cooperating with investigations and follow‑up actions, thereby minimizing adverse impacts.

8. Actively assist those seeking help and rescue. Proactively gather online leads from the public regarding requests for assistance, promptly report them to the relevant authorities, and, under the unified coordination and command of the local Party committee and government, work in close cooperation with the pertinent departments to carry out all‑out disaster relief and rescue operations.

9. Firmly publicize cases of illegal and criminal activities. Vigorously strengthen measures to handle users who violate laws or regulations and increase the visibility of such accounts; establish a special section for educational warnings, regularly release typical cases involving unlawful or non-compliant users, and remind and caution users to strictly abide by national laws and regulations, fully comply with the platform’s code of conduct and service agreements, and enhance self-discipline and self-governance.