30 WeChat groups banned for spreading pandemic rumors

Thirty WeChat groups have been banned for spreading rumors about the COVID-19 pandemic in Shanghai, according to the city's cyberspace watchdog.

Twenty-three WeChat users, who were identified as sources of some of the rumors, have also been punished since April 8, the office of cyberspace affairs in Shanghai said on Thursday.

Several people have so far been given administrative penalties by city police for making and spreading rumors since the pandemic resurgence in March.

In Hongkou District, a 57-year-old woman surnamed Zheng was punished for making a video in which she falsely claimed to be a home helper and that her employer had starved to death at home, police said on Thursday.

A 47-year-old man surnamed Huang and a 57-year-old man surnamed Chen were punished for authoring a video in which it was falsely claimed that a residential complex in Xuhui District refused to distribute the government's gift food packs to people while the vegetables in the packs had rotted, police said on the same day.