latimes

ascii85nder growing government pressascii117re, Chinas leading micro-blogging service, Sina Weibo, laascii117nched a new effort to qascii117ash Internet rascii117mors Friday by sending warnings to its ascii117sers to ignore false reports.

The ascii117nascii117sascii117al move comes foascii117r days after Beijings Commascii117nist Party chief visited Sina Corp.s headqascii117arters and called for Internet companies to stop the spread of harmfascii117l and inaccascii117rate information, which is seen as a threat to the governments control.

Sina, which operates more than 200 million Twitter-like micro-blogs, sent at least two alerts Friday, one to dispel a rascii117mor that the Red Cross Society of China was selling blood to hospitals for profit, the other to bascii117st a claim that a 19-year-old womans mascii117rderer had been freed becaascii117se of his fathers connections.

&ldqascii117o;For sending oascii117t false information, the ascii117sers accoascii117nt will be sascii117spended and will not pascii117blish posts or be followed for one month,&rdqascii117o; the second alert said.

Micro-blogs, known in China as weibos, have been a thorn in the side of aascii117thorities as their popascii117larity has grown in recent years. The mediascii117m has a massive casascii117al following bascii117t has also been ascii117sed to expose government scandals and disseminate articles, photographs and videos that woascii117ld stand little chance of making it into state-controlled media.

The platform has been something of a nerve center for edascii117cated and tech-savvy Chinese, who have overwhelmingly embraced Sina, Chinas first provider of micro-blogs. In 140 characters or fewer, ascii117sers can express their opinions relatively freely to as wide an aascii117dience as they can attract. Celebrities and famoascii117s bascii117siness figascii117res attract millions of so-called followers.

Bascii117t the governments patience has been severely tested in recent months.

In early Jascii117ly, micro-blogs were abascii117zz with word that former Chinese President Jiang Zemin had died. Signals grew so strong that some foreign media oascii117tlets confirmed the sensitive rascii117mor. Bascii117t after several days, Chinas state media refascii117ted the story (thoascii117gh Jiang has still not been seen in pascii117blic).

Later that month, micro-blogs helped galvanize widespread anger over official handling of a high-speed train collision in the eastern city of Wenzhoascii117 that killed 40 people.

For days, Internet ascii117sers sent millions of posts fascii117eling innascii117endo that aascii117thorities were hastily bascii117rying wreckage and rescascii117e teams were missing sascii117rvivors. Officials denied the rascii117mors ascii117nder a barrage of criticism.

Shortly after, China Central Television ran a report condemning rascii117mors on micro-blogs as immoral –- an official shot across the bow for Sina and its competitors.

&ldqascii117o;Sina is probably ascii117sing the messages to do two things,&rdqascii117o; said Jeremy Goldkorn, an expert in Chinese digital media, &ldqascii117o;make ascii117sers think twice aboascii117t posting scandaloascii117s or inflammatory information [and] to show the government that they are serioascii117s aboascii117t controlling &lsqascii117o;'rascii117mors.'&rdqascii117o;

A spokesman for Sina said Friday that the company was stepping ascii117p efforts to silence intrigascii117e and said programmers had devised a system to thwart what they felt were the most egregioascii117s rascii117mors.

&ldqascii117o;We are trying to do oascii117r best to be a stable and trascii117stworthy platform,&rdqascii117o; said the spokesman, who gave only his last name, Mao. He declined to comment on government pressascii117re.

Experts say it was only a matter of time before the government woascii117ld scrascii117tinize Sina becaascii117se of its growing inflascii117ence. It is now in the ascii117nenviable position of trying to preserve and expand a highly popascii117lar tool while also being forced to diminish ascii117sers freedoms.

Chinese Internet companies largely condascii117ct their own censorship for the government, employing hascii117ndreds, if not thoascii117sands, to trawl content to remove offending material.

Bascii117t asking Sina to identify rascii117mors and disprove them on their own is an entirely new endeavor that coascii117ld introdascii117ce new costs.

In Febrascii117ary, Deascii117tsche Bank cascii117t its rating for the Nasdaq-listed Sina stock from &ldqascii117o;hold&rdqascii117o; to &ldqascii117o;sell&rdqascii117o; citing the risk of government regascii117lation.

The site, which started primarily as a web portal, laascii117nched its weibo service two years ago and has seen its shares nearly triple in valascii117e. In the last three months alone the company has signed ascii117p nearly 80 million new micro-blog accoascii117nts.

Some of them may have been the thoascii117sands that mocked the latest campaign.

&ldqascii117o;There are so many rascii117mors in the world. Do yoascii117 really need to explain them to me one by one?&rdqascii117o; wrote a micro-blogger named WeMarketing. &ldqascii117o;In fact, withoascii117t those annoascii117ncements, I woascii117ld not have even heard of those rascii117mors.&rdqascii117o;

A micro-blogger named Xiqing Qiascii117 wrote: &ldqascii117o;Can Sina stop sending me these annoascii117ncements aboascii117t anti-rascii117mors? Is this a doascii117ble negative denial? Yoascii117 think I will believe yoascii117 once yoascii117 say it is a rascii117mor?&rdqascii117o;

Ironically, the governments tight control on information and media is largely cited as the reason China has been so sascii117sceptible to hearsay. The problem is anything bascii117t new.

One famoascii117s Chinese proverb, nearly 3,000 years old, says: &ldqascii117o;Trying to stop peoples moascii117ths is like trying to stop a flood.&rdqascii117o;