The List: The 10 Worst Chinese Laws

tauringhuang.

Emergency Response Law

What it says: Designed to ban the spread of false information during disasters, the law prohibits “units and individuals” from “fabricating or spreading false information regarding emergencies and government efforts to cope with emergencies.” It also mandates local governments and authorities to “provide coordinated, accurate and timely information on the emergency and its development.”

What it does: Passed in the wake of Chinese stonewalling during the SARS outbreak in 2003, the law ostensibly aims to improve the spread of information. But critics contend it just as easily muzzles the press. China’s legislature did water down a measure that would have imposed strict fines on the media for “inaccurate reporting,” but the law still contains provisions revoking media licenses for violations. State media coverage of coal-mine and other industrial accidents has been limited, as the government worries such reporting would provoke social unrest.