First ChatGPT arrest in China over fake train crash news
Beijing, May 8: Chinese police have detained a man for allegedly generating fake news of a train crash and disseminating it online using artificial intelligence technology, in what was reported to be China's first arrest for misuse of ChatGPT.
Police in northwestern Gansu province said in a statement on Sunday that a suspect surnamed Hong had been detained for "using artificial intelligence technology to concoct false and untrue information".
The case first caught the attention of the cyber division of a county police bureau when they spotted a fake news article that claimed nine people had been killed in a local train accident on April 25, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Monday.
The cybersecurity officers in Kongtong county found the article simultaneously posted by more than 20 accounts on Baijiahao, a blog-style platform run by Chinese search engine giant Baidu.
The stories had received more than 15,000 clicks by the time it came to authorities' attention, it said.
The Gansu public security department said Hong was suspected of the crime of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble", a charge that normally carries a maximum sentence of five years. But in cases that are deemed especially severe, offenders can be jailed for 10 years and given additional penalties, the Post reported.
This is the first time the public has been made aware of an arrest by Chinese authorities after Beijing's first provisions to regulate the use of "deepfake" technology officially took effect in January, it said.
The police said they traced the origins of the article to a company owned by the suspect Hong, which operated personal media platforms registered in Shenzhen in Guangdong province in southern China. Some 10 days later a police team searched Hong's home and his computer and detained him.
The statement said Hong confessed to bypassing Baijiahao's duplication check function to publish on multiple accounts he had acquired. He input the elements of trending social stories in China from past years into ChatGPT to quickly produce different versions of the same fake story and uploaded them to his Baijiahao accounts, it said.
While ChatGPT is not directly available to Chinese IP addresses, Chinese users can still access its service if they have a reliable VPN connection.
Chinese IT outlets were experimenting with their versions of the ChatGPT after Microsoft and Google announced their innovations.
China closely monitors its social media through firewalls, especially Sina Weibo, which has over 592 million users to ensure no critical content against the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC).
China's top internet regulator has long voiced concern that unchecked development and use of deep synthesis technology could lead to its use in criminal activities such as online scams or defamation.
As ChatGPT has gone viral in recent months, China's law enforcement agencies have repeatedly voiced suspicion, and even warnings, about the technology.
In one of the first comments on the chatbot made by the Chinese security apparatus, police in Beijing specifically warned the public in February to be wary of "rumours" generated by ChatGPT, the Post reported.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Suvendu Adhikari says Bangladesh should be taught a “lesson like Israel taught Gaza”
Kolkata: Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly Suvendu Adhikari has sparked controversy after stating that Bangladesh should be taught a “lesson like Israel has taught Gaza.”
Adhikari made the remark while speaking to reporters outside the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata on Friday, December 26. “These people must be taught a lesson, just like Israel taught Gaza. Our 100 crore Hindus and the government working in the interest of Hindus must teach them a lesson just as we taught Pakistan a lesson in Operation Sindoor,” he said.
The statement came amid protests being held outside the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission since December 22, following the lynching of Dipu Chandra Das, a 27-year-old garment factory worker in Bangladesh. Das was killed on December 18 in the Mymensingh district, where his body was allegedly hung from a tree and set on fire in public view.
Adhikari was part of a five-member delegation that met senior officials of the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission on Friday. Speaking after the meeting, he claimed that the diplomats had “no answer to most of his questions” related to the killing and the situation of minorities in Bangladesh.
Reacting to his comments, the All India Trinamool Congress accused the BJP of promoting hate and intolerance. In a post on X, the party described Adhikari’s remarks as hate speech and alleged that they amounted to a call for violence, while also questioning the absence of legal action against him.
Adhikari’s statement has added to political tensions in West Bengal and raised concerns over inflammatory rhetoric linked to sensitive international and communal issues.
The @BJP4India’s Bengal ‘face’ wants a Gaza like operation against Bangladesh. Dog whistles that the @narendramodi government is for ‘Hindus’ only. Do you concur with this @narendramodi @DrSJaishankar ? Dirty politics of Divide and Rule won’t work in Bengal, @SuvenduWB pic.twitter.com/vLWm9b3AXb
— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) December 27, 2025
