Bloggers admit to spreading rumors

A Chinese micro-blogger pleaded guilty to spreading false information on the Internet and deleting micro-blog posts for profit on Thursday.

Yang Xiuyu, founder of the Erma company best known online as Lier Chaisi stood at trial at the Beijing Chaoyang District People’s Court accused of illegal business practices. According to the charges, yang had received 531,000 yuan($86,000) to help clients remove unfavorable online posts and spread rumors.

Yang did this from the period of May 2012 to September 2013.

The forty one year-old originally from Jilin province said during the trial that he signed contracts with businesses to help them monitor public opinion as well as eliminate negative posts about them.

“The companies gave me the information they wanted to delete first and then i asked my colleague Lu Mei to find people to erase them,” said Yang.

Lu, 31, the former media department head of Yang’s company also stood at trial Thursday.

Lu from Hunan province was accused of seeking 220,000 yuan ($35,000) to help businesses delete online posts. Lu also pleaded guilty.

In addition to the post deletions, Yang’s other crime was fabricating the news. Yang once recruited a man to wear monk’s robes to flirt with two women on a boat. He had the scene filmed and posted online so that an artist surnamed An could comment on it. An had reached out to yang to raise his own online profile.

The Ministry of Public Security said on its website that Yang was also involved in the high-profile Guo Meimei incident. Yang had allegedly helped Guo Meimei discredit the Red Cross society of China.

Guo gained national notoriety several years ago after flaunting her luxurious lifestyle online while falsely claiming to be associated with the Red Cross society of China. Guo was not mentioned in Thursday’s indictment.

Prosecutors say that Yang and Lu’s actions were a violation of Chinese criminal law.

Questions:

1. What did clients pay Yang and his company to do?

2. How much money did Yang receive to delete online posts?

3. Which high-profile incident is Yang associated with?

Answers:

1. To help clients remove unfavorable online posts and spread rumors.

2. 531,000 yuan.

3. Guo Meimei incident.

The story is broadcast by Eric Jou.

（中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑）