May 8 (Xinhua) — According to the WeChat public account of the Ministry of State Security, a very small number of individuals in society have impersonated official accounts of state security organs on some social media platforms to attract traffic, causing a certain negative impact. In response, the state security organs promptly carried out handling in accordance with the law, corrected the erroneous conduct of impersonating state security self-media, and ensured the authority and credibility of the Ministry of State Security's official WeChat account.

　　Impersonating official accounts is unacceptable

　　Recently, the 12339 state security organ reporting hotline received reports from the public that some self-media accounts named "Guoan," "State Security," "12339 State Security Reporting Hotline," "State Security Publicity Committeeman" and the like were impersonating official accounts, deliberately using names and official logos associated with state security organs and publishing related content in order to garner attention and mislead some netizens.

　　Among them, a video account named "Guoan" on a short-video platform had long published and reposted information concerning state security organs, and in interactions with netizens claimed to be "state security staff." Upon verification by the state security organs, the account was privately operated by a netizen, Ms. Zhang, who, out of admiration for state security organs, began to copy and edit related content on her personal short-video account after the Ministry of State Security opened its official WeChat account. During this period, to satisfy her vanity and increase credibility, Ms. Zhang erroneously impersonated a state security organ staff member to publish related posts and interact with followers.

　　Given that her online activities did not cause serious harm and that she showed a good attitude in admitting her mistake, after criticism and education by the state security organs, Ms. Zhang promptly changed the account name and avatar and took the initiative to delete all of the hundreds of short-video works concerning state security organs on the account.

　　Assisting in publicity must be done properly

　　Since the Ministry of State Security's official WeChat account went online, the vast number of netizens have actively supported and spontaneously participated in state security publicity and education activities, demonstrating a strong awareness of state security and a sense of social responsibility.

　　In cooperating with the publicity work of state security organs, the public may interact by forwarding, liking, and sharing, or by participating in comments, questions, and voting. In participating in state security publicity, claiming to be internal state security personnel or impersonating official state security accounts may confuse the public's understanding of information and choice of behavior. Such conduct not only damages the image and credibility of state security organs but may also infringe upon the personal and property safety of the public and adversely affect the public opinion environment and social order.

　　Tips from state security organs

　　Article 8 of the Provisions on the Administration of Internet User Account Information stipulates: "When registering and using account information, Internet users shall not counterfeit, impersonate, or fabricate the names, logos, etc., of political parties, Party, government, and military organs, enterprises and public institutions, people's organizations, and social organizations."

　　As Internet users, every netizen should also keep a sharp eye, raise awareness of prevention, and effectively identify impersonating accounts in the following ways:

　　— Pay attention to the account's verification information. Official government accounts will have clear verification marks; for example, the verification type of the "Ministry of State Security" WeChat public account is government, and the verifying entity is the Ministry of State Security of the People's Republic of China.

　　— Note the content published by the account. Content published by official accounts is usually more rigorous and standardized, whereas impersonating accounts often have uneven content quality and may even contain a large number of elementary errors.

　　— Report and verify suspicious account information. When encountering suspicious content or suspected impersonating accounts, you may verify them through official information release channels and actively report them to the relevant online platforms and government departments.

　　Cyberspace is not a place outside the law. State security organs remind the general public to keep their eyes open and remain vigilant, not to readily believe unverified information, not to disclose sensitive personal information, to guard against false information, to protect their lawful rights and interests, and to jointly create a truthful and clean online environment.