Zhao Feng, an officer responsible for the bureau's micro blog, told China Daily that public efforts are needed to improve the online environment.

Currently, five police officers take care of the bureau's micro blog.

"We receive about 20,000 online messages every day," Zhao said. However, lots of the messages can easily be identified as fake if netizens think twice before forwarding them.

"So rumors can fade away when every micro-blogger is careful about forwarding online information," he said.

The most difficult task for the police now is to find who posts the fake information first, since the rumormongers sometimes cancel their online accounts quickly, Zhao said.

Cheng Manli, a media professor at Peking University, said self-discipline is necessary and will become more important in the future.

"We should be sensible about using new media, including micro blogs and WeChat," she said. "And we must be careful when sharing ideas or forwarding information, especially about hot topics."

The governmental departments and online service platforms should also provide authorized information in time, to help netizens identify fake ones, she added.

Cui Shaoyu, a micro-blogger in Beijing, said she usually checks online information before forwarding it.

"I follow many authorized micro-bloggers ... and prefer traditional media reports," she added.

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