Chinese web firms vow to ‘fight and clear up online rumours’

Three of China’s largest internet firms have promised the government they will take steps to banish online rumours, state media has said, as the ruling Communist Party fights jitters over a tricky leadership transition.

A dispatch by the official Xinhua news agency made no mention of rumours of a foiled coup in Beijing that spread on the internet in past weeks, after the abrupt ousting of Bo Xilai.

But the article was the latest in a series carried by state media lambasting online rumours and those who spread them.

The 15 March fall of Mr Bo as party chief of Chongqing, linked to a scandal involving a senior aide, has shaken the party ahead of the leadership changes.

After Mr Bo was sacked, popular microblogs, including those run by Sina Corporation and Tencent Holdings were awash with speculation about a coup.

Xinhua said that both companies, along with top search engine Baidu, would “resolutely support and co-operate with relevant government departments in measures to fight and clear up online rumours”.

They would also “earnestly fulfil their responsibility to society, follow the law, increase management of the internet and adopt effective measures” to guard against rumours.

In late March, authorities shut 16 Chinese websites and detained six people accused of spreading rumours about military movements and security in the capital.