May 19, 2008
China quake news spread through bloggers and by SMS
Almost nonstop, the uncensored opinions of Chinese citizens are popping up online, sent by text and instant message across a country shaken by its worst earthquake in three decades. The Associated Press reports.
"China is now home to the world's largest number of Internet and mobile phone users, and their hunger for quake news is forcing the government to let information flow in ways it hasn't before.
A fast-moving network of text messages, instant messages and blogs has been a powerful source of firsthand accounts of the disaster, as well as pleas for help and even passionate criticism of rescue efforts.
... But the government is still monitoring the online conversation. Seventeen people have been detained since the earthquake, warned or forced to write apologies for online messages that "spread false information, made sensational statements and sapped public confidence," the state-run news agency, Xinhua, reported Thursday.
Police also warned of the spread of scam text messages asking for quake donations."
Picture left, a man waits for his mobile phone to charge after a generator was brought to a temporary outdoor shelter in Dujiangyan, in China's southwest Sichuan province.
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