The Internet penetration rate in China reached 26 percent in 2009, exceeding the world average. As users discuss an increasingly wide range of topics online, the Internet has become an independent source of news and views. At the same time, unorthodox, emotional views can run rife in cyberspace, and this calls for strengthened supervision. Experts made these points at the recent conference of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences to release its 2010 Social Blue Paper and assess China's social development in 2009.

A major news source

Statistics from the Public Opinion Monitoring Department at People.com.cn, the website of People's Daily, show that 23, or about 30 percent, of 77 hotly contested social issues it monitored in 2009, first surfaced on the Internet before moving into the public arena. In other words, about one third of public opinion in China originates from the Internet, making it one of the most important sources of news and views.

In its report on online public opinion in China in 2009, the department said Internet users discussed issues such as the protection of citizens' rights, the supervision of government power, the maintenance of public order, the promotion of morality and other major concerns of the general public--evidence of their willingness to participate in addressing social affairs.

The combination of the Internet with cell phones was one of the major features of the development of China's Internet industry in 2009. Mobile Web has become a powerful emerging media outlet that enables Internet users to disseminate information more conveniently. With their cell phones, they can even provide live coverage of breaking news with texts, pictures and video.

Online anti-corruption reporting

Organs of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese Government attached increasing importance to public opinion on the Internet in 2009. Government departments, from ministries of the Central Government to local governments, all established emergency response mechanisms to address the concerns of Internet users, enabling more rapid government response to online appeals. Mechanisms for the government to monitor, take notice of and respond to appeals have begun to take shape, and officials are being held increasingly accountable for their behavior. This has helped ensure positive Internet interaction between the government and the public.

For example, only two hours after a fire on a crowded bus in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, on June 5, 2009, the municipal government held the first press conference on the incident, which was later found to be suicidal arson. It convened three press conferences on the day to release the latest casualty figures as well as information about the treatment of the wounded and that rescue efforts, in a bid to provide accurate information before any rumors spread.

Tianya.cn, a popular Chinese online forum, reported in a post on October 7, 2009 that the wife of a high official of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) attacked a female guide who told her not to touch ancient murals at the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, Gansu Province. Three days later, XPCC top leadership instructed officials to carry out investigations, and the XPCC Information Office gave an immediate reply to the post on Tianya.cn. The official and his wife were both removed from their posts two days later.

The Internet has become a new channel through which the public reports the misconduct of officials to disciplinary organs of the CPC and the Chinese Government as well as judicial bodies. The Fourth Plenum of the 17th CPC Central Committee held in September 2009 called on the Party to improve its online anti-corruption reporting mechanism as well as the mechanism to collect and process online information. On October 28, 2009, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC and the Ministry of Supervision jointly launched a website for Internet users to inform about corrupt officials (www.12388.gov.cn). The website nearly collapsed because of the large number of hits it received in the first few days after its inauguration. This initiative was complemented by the launch of reporting websites by the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee (www.12380.gov.cn), the Reporting Center for Law and Discipline Violations by Judges of the Supreme People's Court, and the Impeachment Center of the Supreme People's Procuratorate (www.12309.gov.cn).

Some regions have taken innovative measures to address online concerns. The governments of cities such as Guangzhou and Nanjing have appointed online spokespeople to answer Internet users' questions on all kinds of issues about public administration. Online bulletins have also become a new platform for the government to learn about social conditions, understand the people's aspirations and pool their wisdom.

Guidance and supervision

As topics for online discussions widen, some Internet users have tended to express their views in an unorthodox, emotion-laden manner. This alarming tendency calls for strengthened guidance and supervision, experts said.

When mass incidents or other emergencies broke out as they did in 2009, many of those involved failed to keep calm, and so did an increasing number of Internet users, said Shan Guangnai, a research fellow at the Institute of Sociology under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Experts warned that the biased views of a certain group might harden as their supporters interact with each other. When opponents become extremely polarized, they may resort to personal attacks and might even pose threats to social order. It is therefore imperative that the government guide online public opinion and rein in unreasonable and prejudiced comments.

The government should offer guidance in a way that is acceptable to Internet users, experts say. While taking into account the rules of online information dissemination, it should respect Internet users?rights to know and to make their voices heard. Websites, for their part, are expected to act as responsible, competent gatekeepers for their content.