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China Deletes Thousands of Online Posts over 'Rumors'
[An Nahar] China has closed 42 websites and deleted more than 210,000 posts since mid-March in a crackdown on online "rumors", state media said Thursday, as a major political scandal rocked the country.The announcement on the official Xinhua news agency came as Chinese authorities ramped up efforts to control online speculation about the purge of a top leader whose wife is suspected in the murder of a British businessman. It did not refer to this week's dramatic developments surrounding the high-profile and populist former leader Bo Xilai, who was sacked as Chongqing party secretary last month. But China's weibos -- microblogs similar to Twitter that have taken the country by storm -- have buzzed with speculation about Bo's suspension from the powerful 25-member Politburo and the investigation of his wife for murder. "Actions of creating and spreading rumors via the Internet disrupt public order and undermine social stability, and will never be tolerated," the report quoted Liu Zhengrong, an official with the State Internet Information Office, which controls the web, as saying. Bo had been tipped to join an elite group of leaders who effectively run China later this year, and his downfall is the biggest drama to hit the Communist Party in years. Posted by: Fred 2012-04-13 |
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