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Li Chuncheng hit highs and lows in 2012. The former deputy secretary of the Sichuan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China （CPC） went from hero to zero in a saga that began in midNovember. Li was elected an alternate member of the Central Committee of the ruling Party at its 18th National Congress， a position that ensured him a bright future in his political career. However， only 20 days later he fell from grace when he was removed from this position and the Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection began to investigate him.
Li’s demise began with a post from Shen Yong， a young policeman in Chengdu， capital of Sichuan Province， on Sina Weibo， China’s largest microblogging website. Shen disclosed information implicating Li in corruption. This came to the attention of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection， China’s top force against corruption.
Li Chuncheng is not the only high official who was exposed for corruption on microblogs. Lei Zhengfu， former Secretary of the CPC Beibei District Committee of Chongqing Municipality， is another example. On November 20， journalist Ji Xuguang posted pictures on Sina Weibo of Lei being bribed with sexual favors. Only three days later， Lei was removed from his post and put under investigation.
During the month after the 18th CPC National Congress， officials were investigated almost daily. In south China’s Guangdong Province， in the space of one week， four high-ranking officials were investigated for corruption. Many of these cases were exposed on microblogs.
Online army
The newly elected leading group of the CPC is determined to address corruption and has vowed to strengthen its efforts in this regard. The report to the 18th National Party Congress said， “All those who violate Party discipline and state laws， whoever they are and whatever power or official positions they have， must be brought to justice without mercy.”
Experts believe that China is encouraging netizens to disclose details of corruption on the Internet. More importantly， anti-corruption organizations can quickly investigate what was exposed by netizens.
Statistics from China Internet Network Information Center said that at the end of June 2012， China had about 538 million Internet users and more than half of them use microblogs. Among Chinese Internet users over 19 years old， 88.8 percent have microblog accounts， making opportunities for exposing corruption enormous. “Mass participation is the most effective way to fight corruption and should be encouraged，” said Zhu Lijia， Professor of Chinese Academy of Governance， in an interview with Procuratorial Daily.
Full disclosure
Zhou Wenbin is a staff member at the Bureau of Land and Resources of Lixin County in Anhui Province， and is now heralded as China’s first real-name anticorruption microblogger. But before April 13， 2011， he knew nothing about microblogging.
“I didn’t expect that I could achieve my goal through my Sina Weibo blog，” Zhou told ChinAfrica.“Actually， Weibo was my last attempt after numerous frustrations.”
When he found his boss took bribes， he decided to report this to anti-corruption authorities. He wrote anonymous letters and e-mails to discipline inspection commissions and to the media， but he got no response.
“One of my friends suggested that I try Weibo and I did，” said Zhou. After he registered his Weibo account with his real name and ID number， he tweeted，“I will report the corruption of my boss by surrendering myself to the judicial department， as I also offered him bribes.”
“I was amazed to see so many Internet users retweeted my post to their fans，” he said. “It seemed like all of a sudden， everyone in China knew about it.”
The fast and widespread availability of Weibo information has made Zhou a household name and anticorruption warrior. His case was soon accepted by discipline inspection departments and his boss was finally punished. “Though the punishment is a bit light for his crime， I am content with the result，” said Zhou.“Weibo has provided a good platform for every one to fight corruption and we must make good use of it.”
Threat to corrupt officials
Like Zhou， Lin Zhe is also optimistic about the future of fighting corruption through microblogs. “The greatest advantage of microblogging is that it can expose corruption， and these clues can be seen by millions of other microbloggers and related to anti-corruption authorities，” said the professor of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee to China Economic Weekly.
According to Lin， disclosing corruption information on microblogs is convenient and the costs are small.“Traditionally， people needed much more time and higher costs to send their information to the related departments，” said Lin. “But now， information posted on microblogs spreads very quickly and can easily be seen by the departments against corruption.” Experts believe that microblogs have now become a warning bell for officials to watch their behavior.“Microblogs are now like eyes watching officials everywhere， urging them to stay away from corruption，”said Ye Qing， Deputy Director of Hubei Provincial Bureau of Statistics， who is also a famous microblogger on Sina Weibo.
Under the close watch of microbloggers nationwide， officials began to pay more attention to their lifestyles and speeches. “Some of them even dare not wear expensive designer watches or clothes，” said Zhang Zhenliang， a scholar on governance microblog studies.
In August 2012， Yang Dacai， former head of the Work Safety Administration of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province grinned inappropriately at the scene of a fatal car crash that killed 36 people. When a photo capturing the moment was put on Weibo， angry microbloggers went digging through Yang’s past and consequently found numerous photos online of him wearing luxury watches and clothing. They voiced their doubts that Yang could afford the items with his official’s salary， and one month later， he was put under investigation.
Ye said that while microblogs can provide valuable information， it is up to anticorruption departments such as the CPC Central Commissions for Discipline Inspection to play a more major role in the process.
A need for new laws
As microblogging is an easy-access platform where anyone can speak their mind， many experts worry that microblogging websites may also be rife with rumors， and unchecked information may hurt innocent people.
In early January， a microblog post asserting that a female director of China Petrochemical Corp. received sex bribes appeared on the Internet along with a photo. The post was widely retweeted， inciting much discussion by Internet users. But later， the photo proved to have nothing to do with the director. Though she sued the microblogger and the website， the rumor had already damaged her reputation and family.
“There should be a mechanism that rewards those who report genuine corruption information and punishes those who produce rumors，” said Ye， adding that the lasting damage caused by rumors cannot be totally eliminated in the long term.
Sina Weibo and some other big microblog websites also have a reporting system where Internet users can easily report false information or rumors to website administrators. When information is proven false， it can be deleted. But such information can be viewed many times before being deleted.
“Actually， those who spread rumors on microblogs can be punished，” said Zhou. “People need to register their real name on the websites before they can blog. They can be sued [for false information].”
But Li Manchun， Director of the Center of Clean Governance and Rule of Law of Central South University， thinks it is not enough. According to him， related departments should make more efforts to collect information on various microblog websites to expand the influence of microblogs in fighting corruption and get more whistleblowing from Internet users； on the other hand， effective laws and regulations should be issued to regulate people who publish information on microblogs.
“Laws should be made to prevent people from abusing microblogs，” he said.
Li’s demise began with a post from Shen Yong， a young policeman in Chengdu， capital of Sichuan Province， on Sina Weibo， China’s largest microblogging website. Shen disclosed information implicating Li in corruption. This came to the attention of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection， China’s top force against corruption.
Li Chuncheng is not the only high official who was exposed for corruption on microblogs. Lei Zhengfu， former Secretary of the CPC Beibei District Committee of Chongqing Municipality， is another example. On November 20， journalist Ji Xuguang posted pictures on Sina Weibo of Lei being bribed with sexual favors. Only three days later， Lei was removed from his post and put under investigation.
During the month after the 18th CPC National Congress， officials were investigated almost daily. In south China’s Guangdong Province， in the space of one week， four high-ranking officials were investigated for corruption. Many of these cases were exposed on microblogs.
Online army
The newly elected leading group of the CPC is determined to address corruption and has vowed to strengthen its efforts in this regard. The report to the 18th National Party Congress said， “All those who violate Party discipline and state laws， whoever they are and whatever power or official positions they have， must be brought to justice without mercy.”
Experts believe that China is encouraging netizens to disclose details of corruption on the Internet. More importantly， anti-corruption organizations can quickly investigate what was exposed by netizens.
Statistics from China Internet Network Information Center said that at the end of June 2012， China had about 538 million Internet users and more than half of them use microblogs. Among Chinese Internet users over 19 years old， 88.8 percent have microblog accounts， making opportunities for exposing corruption enormous. “Mass participation is the most effective way to fight corruption and should be encouraged，” said Zhu Lijia， Professor of Chinese Academy of Governance， in an interview with Procuratorial Daily.
Full disclosure
Zhou Wenbin is a staff member at the Bureau of Land and Resources of Lixin County in Anhui Province， and is now heralded as China’s first real-name anticorruption microblogger. But before April 13， 2011， he knew nothing about microblogging.
“I didn’t expect that I could achieve my goal through my Sina Weibo blog，” Zhou told ChinAfrica.“Actually， Weibo was my last attempt after numerous frustrations.”
When he found his boss took bribes， he decided to report this to anti-corruption authorities. He wrote anonymous letters and e-mails to discipline inspection commissions and to the media， but he got no response.
“One of my friends suggested that I try Weibo and I did，” said Zhou. After he registered his Weibo account with his real name and ID number， he tweeted，“I will report the corruption of my boss by surrendering myself to the judicial department， as I also offered him bribes.”
“I was amazed to see so many Internet users retweeted my post to their fans，” he said. “It seemed like all of a sudden， everyone in China knew about it.”
The fast and widespread availability of Weibo information has made Zhou a household name and anticorruption warrior. His case was soon accepted by discipline inspection departments and his boss was finally punished. “Though the punishment is a bit light for his crime， I am content with the result，” said Zhou.“Weibo has provided a good platform for every one to fight corruption and we must make good use of it.”
Threat to corrupt officials
Like Zhou， Lin Zhe is also optimistic about the future of fighting corruption through microblogs. “The greatest advantage of microblogging is that it can expose corruption， and these clues can be seen by millions of other microbloggers and related to anti-corruption authorities，” said the professor of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee to China Economic Weekly.
According to Lin， disclosing corruption information on microblogs is convenient and the costs are small.“Traditionally， people needed much more time and higher costs to send their information to the related departments，” said Lin. “But now， information posted on microblogs spreads very quickly and can easily be seen by the departments against corruption.” Experts believe that microblogs have now become a warning bell for officials to watch their behavior.“Microblogs are now like eyes watching officials everywhere， urging them to stay away from corruption，”said Ye Qing， Deputy Director of Hubei Provincial Bureau of Statistics， who is also a famous microblogger on Sina Weibo.
Under the close watch of microbloggers nationwide， officials began to pay more attention to their lifestyles and speeches. “Some of them even dare not wear expensive designer watches or clothes，” said Zhang Zhenliang， a scholar on governance microblog studies.
In August 2012， Yang Dacai， former head of the Work Safety Administration of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province grinned inappropriately at the scene of a fatal car crash that killed 36 people. When a photo capturing the moment was put on Weibo， angry microbloggers went digging through Yang’s past and consequently found numerous photos online of him wearing luxury watches and clothing. They voiced their doubts that Yang could afford the items with his official’s salary， and one month later， he was put under investigation.
Ye said that while microblogs can provide valuable information， it is up to anticorruption departments such as the CPC Central Commissions for Discipline Inspection to play a more major role in the process.
A need for new laws
As microblogging is an easy-access platform where anyone can speak their mind， many experts worry that microblogging websites may also be rife with rumors， and unchecked information may hurt innocent people.
In early January， a microblog post asserting that a female director of China Petrochemical Corp. received sex bribes appeared on the Internet along with a photo. The post was widely retweeted， inciting much discussion by Internet users. But later， the photo proved to have nothing to do with the director. Though she sued the microblogger and the website， the rumor had already damaged her reputation and family.
“There should be a mechanism that rewards those who report genuine corruption information and punishes those who produce rumors，” said Ye， adding that the lasting damage caused by rumors cannot be totally eliminated in the long term.
Sina Weibo and some other big microblog websites also have a reporting system where Internet users can easily report false information or rumors to website administrators. When information is proven false， it can be deleted. But such information can be viewed many times before being deleted.
“Actually， those who spread rumors on microblogs can be punished，” said Zhou. “People need to register their real name on the websites before they can blog. They can be sued [for false information].”
But Li Manchun， Director of the Center of Clean Governance and Rule of Law of Central South University， thinks it is not enough. According to him， related departments should make more efforts to collect information on various microblog websites to expand the influence of microblogs in fighting corruption and get more whistleblowing from Internet users； on the other hand， effective laws and regulations should be issued to regulate people who publish information on microblogs.
“Laws should be made to prevent people from abusing microblogs，” he said.