China has the world's largest number of microbloggers with 274 million
people having an account in the country where the social media sites
like Twitter and Facebook are banned.
The China Internet Network
Information Centre (CINIC), the official administrator for internet
affairs said that about 274 million Chinese people had microblog
accounts as of June this year, increasing from about 63 million in 2010.
The
number of Internet users in China rose 10.9 percent year on year to
538 million by the end of June, meaning that four out of ten Chinese
access the Internet, the CINIC report said.
It is estimated that
by 2015 China will have more than 800 million Internet users, one
quarter of which will be from rural areas.
Since, the social media
like Twitter and Facebook are banned in China, the microblogs caught on
like wild fire during the past few years becoming an important channel
for Chinese people to express themselves, particularly about public
issues.
However, this freedom comes with some restriction as the
quick spread of their popularity prompted the government to pass a
series of rules, which make it mandatory for registration of accounts
based on original identity.
The government has also brought in a
censorship of sorts after rumours of coup spread though the microblogs
few months ago which were quickly denounced by officials.
However,
the micrblogs has emerged as a mainstay of the Chinese opinion with
even official media regularly quoting them on various issue.
It has also become an easy and low-cost communication channel between the government and citizens, the report said.
At
Sina Weibo, a leading microblogging service, 18,132 accounts have been
registered by the ruling Communist Party and government departments and
officials as of last October.
It added that about 415 million Chinese use instant message applications.
The
report warned that legislation relating to new media has lagged behind
their development. There is still no law specialising on the Internet
and many related articles in existing laws need revision, it added.
China
should put itself in a more active position in the development of the
Internet and pay more attention to protect its interests and security in
cyber space, the report said.