People's Daily on Monday called on the public to resist spreading rumors and published 10 online rumors that it said had caused harm.

The 10 cases involved various fields, such as food security and natural disasters, and were chosen to demonstrate the harm caused by online rumors and the punishment of those who spread them, according to the paper.

In the latest case selected by the paper, six people were detained for allegedly fabricating and spreading rumors of "military vehicles entering Beijing" through micro-blogging services. Sixteen websites were also closed for disseminating the rumors.

Another rumor, saying that iodized salt could prevent harm from radiation, caused panic buying a year ago following the leak at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Other examples included false information about oranges in 2008, an earthquake in North China's Shanxi province, and an explosion in East China's Jiangsu province.

"The selection represents some typical and serious cases of online rumors in recent years, but certainly doesn't include all false information on the Internet," said Peoples Daily reporter Huang Qingchang.

The public should refrain from spreading information until it has been verified, he added.