Internet celebrities told to act responsibly online
Print Edition
Chinese Internet celebrities have been told to take up more social responsibilities and play a more constructive role after a singer sparked a free speech debate by venting about bombing government offices.
“The government expects Internet celebrities to uphold law and order and to promote virtues and trust,” Xinhua news agency yesterday quoted Lu Wei, director of the State Internet Information Office, as saying.
“They shall set an example of protecting the legal rights of citizens and denouncing any activities that harm the reputation and interests of other people,” he said at a meeting on Saturday.
Singer Wu Hongfei was released earlier this month following her detention by police over her online comments. She was held on suspicion of “fabricating fake terrorism information,” an offence that carries a maximum of five years in jail.
Wu said she wanted to target Beijing’s housing authority and a neighbourhood committee soon after a man set off a homemade device at the capital’s airport, citing grievances with local government.
In an informal online poll run by broadcaster CCTV, 80 percent of voters did not think Wu’s words constituted a crime.
Wu’s comments were made just one day after the man in a wheelchair detonated a small handmade explosive at the Beijing airport to protest over his grievances with the authorities.
The bomber was a former motorcycle driver who despaired at his failure to win redress for what he called a 2005 police beating in southern Dongguan City that left him paralysed, though authorities there said his claims lacked evidence.
He has been formally arrested and could face three to 10 years in jail, his lawyer said.
China’s social networks have developed fast in recent years with more than 1.2 billion accounts opened on about 103 microblogging networks.
On two of the most popular Internet sites, the Twitter-like Sina Weibo and t.qq.com, 3,300 accounts have more than one million followers while about 200 have more than 10 million, according to Xinhua.
About a dozen influential social network account owners attended the meeting, Xinhua said. They agreed that everyone should be responsible for what they say and do online as the Internet is also subject to laws and moral rules in the real world.
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