The main targets of a judicial interpretation to fight online rumors are those fabricating and releasing false information instead of Web users who forward it, legal experts said.

To define the criteria for convicting and sentencing offenders who spread rumors online, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate issued a guideline on Sept 9 that states that Internet users who share false information face up to three years in prison if their posts are viewed 5,000 times or forwarded 500 times.

On Thursday, Xinhua News Agency invited a number of legal experts from the top court and procuratorate, as well as from the All China Lawyers Association to help the public better understand the guideline and tips on how regional law enforcers should use it.

According to Du Ximing, a judge at the top court, equal importance should be attached to fighting the rumor and protecting resident's freedom of speech, and criticism should not be suppressed. If a Web user did not intend to fabricate information to defame others, he or she should not be subject to criminal prosecution, he said.

Legal experts also said that it has been found in real practices that some local law enforcers have misused the interpretation, and they urged law enforcers to enhance supervision over them.

Liu Jingkun, another judge at the top court, said the Supreme People's Court attached great importance to the definition and has issued guidance to regional courts.