People who spread rumors online may be denied Internet access for half a year, according to a draft regulation recently discussed by the top legislature of Liaoning province, Liaoshen Evening News reported.

The draft forbids people from making and spreading rumors that fall into nine categories.

Those who spread rumors that could incite illegal gatherings, disturb social order or undermine social stability will be punished, according to the draft.

The draft rules that people or organizations that disseminate such information online will be denied Internet access for no more than six months if the circumstances are deemed serious.

No details are given of how Internet access will be denied. However, the newspaper quoted communication authorities and network operators as saying that the IP addresses of the offenders will be blocked to prevent the spread of new rumors.

According to one network employee of a State-owned enterprise quoted in the article, if several people in an organization are found to be spreading rumors, the network port of the company may be blocked.