Chinese censors take notice of Twitter-style blogs

The popular personal websites were an unexpected advance in freedom of expression. But this month, four major portals went 'down for maintenance.

L.A. Times: But regulating weibo service could prove an especially big challenge for Chinese authorities. That's because of the burgeoning number of users, which is growing by about 10 million a month, and the speed at which they can post messages.

"It's very difficult to control these [microblogging] sites," said Jeremy Goldkorn, founder of the Beijing-based Danwei.org, which covers media in China. "No matter how great the Great Firewall is, all it takes is one guy to post the complete works of Master Li of the Falun Gong," Goldkorn said, referring to the founder of a spiritual group that is outlawed here.

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