And this is not an isolated incident.
In 2021, local officials were arrested, accused of concealing or underreporting 139 deaths in Henan province.
Incidents like these have resulted in a trust vacuum that has made it much easier for bad actors to spread fake content.
But police are imploring people to trust accredited sources during emergencies.
“When encountering disaster-related information from an unknown source, approach it with scepticism and rely on official announcements,” Gao Kai from the Ningbo Public Security Bureau said.
He also tried to reassure the public that the creators of false information would be caught, saying that “the internet is not a lawless zone. Public security authorities will continue to intensify efforts to crack down on illegal online activity”.
“We’ve created a specialised task force to monitor social media closely, especially short video platforms. They will investigate and handle these cases quickly, cracking down in a very strict manner”.
Punishment could range from a fine to up to seven years in prison if the fallout of the misinformation is serious enough.
On 23 July, China’s Cyberspace Administration also announced a nationwide crackdown on fake internet content related to floods and other disasters, ordering its local branches to focus on catching out fabricated data, malicious editing, staged scenes, misattributed historical events and those impersonating officials. In addition, it called on social media platforms to strengthen the review of the content they are publishing.
Prof Gao believes “the answer is public education combined with law enforcement”, saying that there was a “need to publicise real cases where people have been punished.”
He added that “the harm caused by AI-generated fake content is ultimately the result of how people choose to use the technology – not the technology itself”, adding that existing laws were sufficient to deal with it.
However, others are not so confident. Professor Chen pointed out that “AI technology continues to evolve much faster than legal frameworks. As new legal questions emerge, AI misinformation remains a considerable challenge.”
Shanghai and Washington based lawyer Peter Pang says lawyers around the world are seeing an explosion in the number of cases dealing with these issues.
He believes that the companies that create AI apps and the platforms used to publish fake videos and other material must be held legally accountable along with the people who create misinformation.
“The first line would be the platforms, because they’re the ones that are the enablers. They’re the ones that allow this to go out,” he told the BBC.
He used a hypothetical example of a person who runs over a pedestrian following panic induced by a fake post on social media.
“The video creator might say ‘you ran over somebody. That’s your problem. I didn’t do it.’ But let’s think it through. You created the foundation from which people reacted. If you created that panic, you need to have responsibility for consequences that occur.”
And Professor Xu warns that “AI-generated misinformation is likely to increase not only in volume but in the speed with which it spreads.”
“Looking ahead, political elections, public health emergencies, armed conflicts, natural disasters and issues affecting people’s livelihoods are all likely to become high-risk areas for AI-generated misinformation.
“Instead of waiting for false information to go viral before trying to contain it, governments and platforms should now be preparing in advance.”
