Social media helps corruption battle

THE widely used new media has become an efficient tool for China’s anti-graft body to promote information transparency.

Commentary in a newspaper administrated by the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission said yesterday that netizens can find the latest information released by the top anti-graft watchdog on its website, and post suggestions there.

People can report corrupt practices and other violations of discipline and laws online, such as posting on the microblogging site Weibo, sending a message to anti-graft authorities’ accounts on the instant messaging tool WeChat or reporting through an app run by the top anti-graft authority.

Varied reporting channels have helped expose more officials violating discipline and laws that were hard to be uncovered by anti-graft authorities in the past, the commentary said.

Improved information transparency has also helped ensure more objective and fair investigations, it added.

Anti-graft authorities can post online information about corrupt officials, including those fleeing overseas, meaning there will be more chances to capture them, said the commentary.

It also said that as anti-graft authorities’ articles and video clips are reaching more people online through Weibo, WeChat and their apps, people are now able to learn about the ongoing crackdown on corruption, which also benefits the antigraft work.

(Xinhua)