Today on the net,
China launches a platform to tackle online rumours.
Web users campaigning for the release of a jailed Bahraini blogger.
And fans of boy band One Direction leap to the defense of one of its members.
China launches platform to tackle online rumors
The Chinese government has teamed up with six of the country’s leading web companies, like search engine Baidu, and micro-blogging site, Sina Weibo, to launch what is being billed as China’s first “rumour control” platform which according to the authorities will help control the spread of rumours that threaten what they describe as “social harmony”.
The site which has already published and corrected over 100 000 entries of rumours thought to contain false information is also looking to detect photomontages or other cases of image manipulation. It refutes for example a rumour that a famous Japanese adult film actress took part in an online campaign launched back in June to denounce the multiple child abuse scandals that shocked China.
And with a growing number of corruption scandals being exposed on social networks, the site is also there to protect political officials embroiled in them. The platform stood up for this official for example who web users accused of owning a dozen or so luxury cars.
It’s a way of guiding public opinion in a country which now has some 600 million web users. Netizens that are encouraged to contact the cyber police directly if they deem it necessary, whilst the local authorities also continue to censor the web and block any content they don’t like, as was recently the case with the Chinese version of the Wall Street Journ... Go on reading on our web site.
http://www.france24.com/en/taxonomy/emission/18008
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
