<p>With the development of science and technology, the global Internet industry has changed rapidly in recent years. Social media has become increasingly integrated into both professional and personal spheres, offering significant convenience while also introducing challenges—most notably, the emergence and spread of online rumors. On global digital platforms like TikTok, Chinese culture is facing challenges from transnational rumors that disrupt its international image and hinder cross-cultural trust. This study investigates the characteristics of the spread of Internet rumor in the context of micro-spread to identify rumor sources and minimize their harmful effects. Building on infectious disease propagation model, this paper establishes the node state transformation rules that reflect real-world rumor dynamics. A new state “susceptible and temporarily immune” is introduced to construct an enhanced rumor propagation model. Based on this framework, an empirical analysis is conducted, and a cluster search algorithm is applied to optimize the model’s performance. Additionally, typical rumor reversal cases are selected to validate the model’s applicability. The results demonstrate that the proposed model accurately captures the spread of online rumors and offers practical guidance for predicting rumor trends and identifying critical nodes. This study also proposes a detection and early warning mechanism, along with strategic recommendations to reduce the harm caused by online rumors. The results offer insights into preserving Chinese culture through adaptive rumor governance.</p>