10 most ludicrous online rumors published

BEIJING - The "Beijing Regional Platform for Jointly Refuting Rumors," an official monitor of false information published by people online, on Thursday issued a list of "Top 10 Online Rumors," to showcase a month-long government crackdown on such fabrication.

The mechanism, which went into operation on August 1, was formed jointly by major websites headed by Qianlong.com, under the direction of the Chinese capital's municipal authorities responsible for Internet information.

The top 10 false "news stories" published by individuals online are as follows:

1. "Infant soup" made of babies' bodies has been available in Guangdong province;

2. A bus was kidnapped in Bozhou, Anhui province, in August;

3. A student was killed by officials in Wanyuan, Sichuan province, in July;

4. A photo "showing floods in Liaoning province" was actually copied from those of floods in the Philippines;

5. Hundreds of people died in floods in Qingyuan in August;

6. "1008600" is a telephone number owned by swindlers;

7. China ranks lower than 160th in terms of people's quality of life in a list compiled by the United Nations;

8. Six criminals escaped from a prison and then murdered 78 women and raped 16 in August;

9. A large number of bad guys disguised as law-enforcement personnel attacked homes in August;

10. The Three Gorges Hydropower Station is being privatized.