Xinhua says that the recent scandals over forged photos of the South China Tiger and the extracurricular activities of Hong Kong celebrities show us the power of the Internet in helping netizens get their voices heard:
From fake photos forging the appearance of rare animals to real pictures exposing the sex life of a number of Hong Kong celebrities, individual Internet players have proved that they are no less powerful than the world’s leading news broadcasters in riveting people’s attention.
The reach of the Internet has empowered individuals to speak aloud and to be heard, or perhaps, to make their scandals universally known. The sweeping effect challenges the government’s ability not just in Internet governance, but also in crisis dealing.
Yet it is the last point that seems to be the main concern, as Xinhua states in the final paragraph:
China’s Internet governance practiced mainly by governments and governmental organizations has been quite strict. However, the recent incident over the obscene photos shows the lack of enough legal support to curb pornography from mass spreading on the Internet, and weak law-enforcement power to punish people instigating others to break the law, cheaters and slanders who use the Internet as their tool.
