Three tech firms in China are forced to apologize and pay fines for spreading rumors about KFC.

SHANGHAI – The Xuhui District People’s Court fined three local companies for spreading rumors about Yum! Brands Inc.’s KFC restaurant chain that included allegations of deformed chickens and doctored pictures of deformed birds, Reuters reported.

Yingchenanzhi Success and Culture Communication, Taiyuan Zero Point Technology and Shanxi Weilukuang Technology were ordered to make an official apology and fined a total of 600,000 yuan ($91,191). The court said in its official microblog that the companies had damaged KFC’s reputation and caused economic losses by posting the rumors to their social messaging services.