An army of two million people is being set up by China's authorities to monitor the nation's Internet use, according to a report in the Sunday Independent.
The Sunday broadsheet cites the Beijing News, saying many of the Internet-monitoring employees were performing keyword searches to screen the tens of millions of messages posted daily on social media and micro-blogging sites.
The "Web police", it says, were employed by the government's propaganda arm to prevent social unrest and limit disparagement of the Communist Party. However, it notes the monitors sometimes fail to prevent comments the government disapproves of from being posted or shared.
The report takes a retrospective look at similar cases of social media scrutiny elsewhere: "Authorities in recent years banned Facebook and Twitter, instrumental in uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa.
"Last year authorities blocked The New York Times after it cited financial records showing relatives of former Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao had controlled assets worth at least $2.7 billion (R26.9 billion) - a report China branded a smear."
Getting back to China, the newspaper notes authorities have recently ramped up its already severe censoring of local social media sites, like popular Twitter equivalent Sina Weibo.
"They have detained hundreds of people for spreading 'rumours' online, and warned high-profile bloggers with millions of followers to post more positive comments."
It says the Supreme Court this month said Internet users could face three years in jail if "slanderous" information online is viewed more than 5 000 times or forwarded more than 500 times.
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