Do not post or forward images, stickers, or comments that insult heroes and martyrs, and do not joke about the national flag or anthem

Joking about heroes and martyrs, the flag, or the anthem can mean detention for 5 to 10 days, or a fine of 1000 to 3000 yuan. More serious cases bring detention for 10 to 15 days. If it is a crime, the sentence is up to 3 years. Someone posted 2 messages defaming Yuan Longping in a villagers’ WeChat group of 499 people and got 6 months of public surveillance — not locked up, but movement restricted.

Cost

No money. For content about heroes and martyrs, the national flag, emblem, or anthem: do not comment, edit images, or forward. The hard part is biting back a reply when someone in the group picks up the joke.

Benefit

Insulting or fabricating facts to harm a hero or martyr’s name, likeness, reputation, or honor in a way that damages the public interest is punished as follows. Detention for 5 to 10 days, or a fine of 1000 to 3000 yuan. Desecrating or denying their deeds and spirit, or making and spreading speech, images, or audiovisual material that glorifies wars of aggression and disrupts public order, falls in the same band. The heavier band is detention for 10 to 15 days, with a further fine of up to 5000 yuan. At “serious circumstances” it becomes a crime, punishable by up to 3 years. Publicly insulting the national flag or emblem, or altering the anthem’s words or music or singing it in a distorted, demeaning way, when circumstances are serious, also brings up to 3 years. Official case: Xiao posted 2 messages insulting Yuan Longping in a 499-person villagers’ WeChat group and was sentenced to 6 months of public surveillance. Public surveillance is a penalty that does not send you to prison but restricts your movement. Qiu used a Weibo account with over 2500000 (250余万) followers to post 2 items distorting the deeds of border-defense soldiers, was sentenced to 8 months, and had to apologize publicly in national media (nationwide)

Notes

This article of the Public Security Administration Punishment Law was added only in the 2025 revision. Before that, such cases had to go through the Criminal Law or civil public-interest litigation by the procuratorate. A WeChat group of several hundred people counts as a public setting in the courts’ eyes.

Sources · 5

1. 全国人大常委会 (2025). 治安管理处罚法（2025 年修订，第三十五条）. spp.gov.cn/spp/fl/202506/t20250627_699863.shtml
2. 全国人大常委会 (2018). 英雄烈士保护法（第二十二、二十六条）. spp.gov.cn/spp/gyssshmhsh/201912/t20191202_44…
3. 全国人大常委会 (2020). 刑法修正案（十一）（第三十五条，即刑法第二百九十九条之一）. spp.gov.cn/zdgz/202012/t20201227_503682.shtml
4. 全国人大 (2020). 刑法（根据刑法修正案（十一）修正，第二百九十九条、第二百九十九条之一）. jtgl.beijing.gov.cn/jgj/jgxx/flfg/fl/11033925…
5. 最高人民法院 (2022). 涉英烈权益保护十大典型案例（案例二、案例三）. court.gov.cn/zixun/xiangqing/382301.html