Xinjiang rumor mongers punished over texts

Hundreds of people in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region have been punished for spreading rumors and separatist content via text messages during the Spring Festival holiday, local authorities said yesterday.

Two people were detained as of Feb 20, while the rest received administrative punishments for sending text messages containing rumors and separatist content to mobile users within and outside Xinjiang, according to a statement released by the region's information office.

The text messages caused panic during the weeklong Spring Festival holiday. More than half of those punished are students and self-employed people. A number of people who sent the messages meant them as jokes, the police said.