In China, man detained for 9 days for sending a meme that 'insulted police'

A man in China was reportedly detained for nine days after he sent a meme to a group chat that was considered "insulting" by the police. The incident has reportedly gone viral on social media as people were not happy with detention of a person over a meme in a group chat. The man, identified by his surname Li, reportedly sent a meme on social media platform WeChat, reported CNN. 

As per CNN report, the man had sent the meme on social media application WeChat, where they were exchanging views on local COVID prevention measures. The people were reportedly engaged in complaining about the measures that were implemented by local authorities in order to control the spread of COVID-19, CNN reported citing local media. Reportedly, police in Qingtongxia city had shared a screenshot of Li's message on Chinese social media, which they removed later.

Man detained for 9 days

The post had caught the attention of social media users with a related hashtag, gathering 170 million views, reported CNN citing The Paper. The people of the country objected to the detention of the person for sending a meme in a group chat. Li had reportedly sent a meme which showed a dog wearing a police hat. The dog was holding a police badge and pointing towards the camera. The report stated that police had received information that Li had reportedly sent an image which "insulted the police". 

The police started an investigation into the chat group, which had over 330 members. After the police came to know that Li was not satisfied with the measures taken by the authorities, they summoned him to the police station, where he was questioned.

The man accepted that he had insulted the police by the meme shared on group chat. Police stated that such actions of people provoked the public and he was given 9 nine days detention as punishment. It is pertinent to mention here that since the pandemic began, Chinese authorities have been conducting mass testing, imposing lockdown and travel restrictions in the country to control the spread of COVID-19.

Image: Representative Image