During the coronavirus outbreak (explainer vid: ), one question haunts the entire discussion: What is a "rumor"? I figure this deserves its own thread:

1. Now we all know the outbreak started with gossips. In late December, doctors expressed concerns abt a SARS-like virus in WeChat groups. They were later (illegally) reprimanded by police for spreading rumors and publicly shamed on CCTV. But this is just a start.

2. I'm not getting into the tug-of-war between street "rumors" and government "truth" about the outbreak. What I'm talking about beginswith the myth of "diagnosis”, and ends with probably the saddest event I've ever witnessed on Chinese social media.

3. In the early stage, Wuhan patients found it extremely difficult to get a confirmation of nCoV diagnosis. Many suspect cases’ medical records only said “viral pneumonia” without specification (Why? That's another story). Most were sent away and asked to self-quarantine.

4. The helpless patients & family members resorted to social media, hoping to gain support & attention so they could be admitted. They got internet sympathy, but many ppl also attacked them ruthlessly, under the name of “rumor-debunking”. This is an early example. relatively calm

5. Attackers share a gigantic slippery slope:—where’s your medical record? —why is there no nCoV diagnosis? —record says u have “viral pneumonia”? Gotcha! You’re spreading rumors about nCoV, and you’re creating panic. You should be in jail.

6. Those are not attackers’ exact words. These below are. I was just being nice.

7. This remote, vicious rumor-debunking creates an awful catch-22: Patients can’t get diagnosed/admitted and they need help; Their call for help will be easily smeared as rumors and they might not get help to get diagnosed/admitted.

8. This FUCKING SUCKS. You see families begging on Weibo, and in the comment section, there are people trolling them. You see they tried to explain themselves with extensive records, and all these efforts are “debunked” by online strangers prosecuting any trace of inconsistency

9. “Passed away”. I’ll never forget this weibo, from a daughter about her father. If look into it, she was attacked for rumor spreading/fear-mongering all along. An alleged medical student in the US has the most heartless post I’ve seen on the internet.

10. The daughter recalled that she put oxygen mask on her father, but she misused the term “Ventilator”. The medical “expert” mocked, “haha you set up ventilator yourself. Tell me the exact process, how much versed propofol did u use?”


11. To be fair, the medical student apologized. Most other trolls just move on to hunt the next victim, trolling patients and family at their most vulnerable moment.

12. SO MANY CASES are like this. Some are even painted as Taiwanese Spies. Certain accounts that feed on nationalism milked this rumor-debunking hard. Weibo had to suspend some. Ppl who’re interested can also search “”武汉三姨妈”.

13. A new phrase, “辟谣式造谣” (rumor thru rumor-debunking) has been coined.

14. Trolls are self-proclaimed rumor detectives. a person attempts to “debunk” someone by pointing out her inconsistencies: she first used the word 榨菜 (pickled vegetable), but later she said she had 咸菜 (salted vegetable).

15. This attack is so rampant that Weibo needs to initiate a verification system to verify patients. It's a kind gesture, but that only gives ppl more ammunition for ppl who are not verified by Weibo. some missed deadline and some just don't want to.

16. This absolutism is developed in less than 10 years. In 2013, on Beijing News, there was a headline “SARS legacy: using gossips to pressure gov for transparency”. Quickly, it became public knowledge: “if your rumor is forwarded for 500 times you can end in jail”

17. But it’s not like the coronavirus is rumor-free. People’s Daily itself published scientifically dubious articles promote Chinese medicine; its Twitter account also straight up posted a fake Wuhan hospital, which turns out to be a stock photo.

18. What’s really troubling: many ppl are used to the lack of the option to have a reliable info source that's *not* government. Two kinds of ppl are born: one blindly trusts gov; one blindly refuses. Both are not exactly helpful for the sake of transparency.

19. For a brief resurgence of China’s heroic media coverage, please refer to my friend @MariaRepnikova's op-ed here. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/opinion/coronavirus-china-news-journalism.html

20. This will haunt me for yrs: your loved ones are dying but you’re explaining to trolls YOUR PAIN IS REAL. It’s really not abt virus or hate speeches. It’s ultimately abt a schism created by the lack of independent media & a society where truth is monopolized by the authority

21. Thanks for reading the whole thread. By now, if you watch our @qz vid again, you'll know there're way more hidden struggles beyond the disease. It reveals issues on so many levels. More to come from me and @Muge_Niu