China's Sina Weibo has often been compared to Twitter and other similar social media companies. This service allows for Chinese to post microblogs and boasts over 260 million users. The government, however, is demanding that users input accurate information about themselves or users will be sanctioned against posting future messages. This is all in an effort to prevent the spread of false and harmful rumors through the service. Some false rumors that have been spread in the past include a rumor that North Korea's Kim Jong-un had been assassinated while on a recent trip to Beijing and also that HIV infected syringes had been brought to Beijing to be used in attacks.
I found this article interesting because it shows the western influence on culture that is present in China. Although the people do not enjoy democratic freedom in the American sense, these types of companies are in a way bringing a type of democracy to the people.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17337252
Everybody's gotta tweet. I agree with you that western influence and technology is forcing the Chinese Government to slowly give people more freedom. There is only so much that they can sensor and control. Big brother has to let up eventually.
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