Also, the Internet has become an important channel for exposing sex scandals involving officials.
Sex scandals and officials exposed as having vast wealth can instantly draw the attention of Internet users. The pressure they brought in Lei's case resulted in quick action from the government: Lei was removed from his position 63 hours after the first Internet post on the sex scandal.
"The Internet has proved a very influential channel for the supervision of officials. It has also influenced government policies through the pressure of social media," said Tang of the Renmin University of China.
"There have been many cases in which officials were confronted by rumors and libel, and the current government system does not seem prepared for this," he said.
News associated with the lives of government officials is more attractive to the media and the public, according to Luo Meng, an anti-corruption official with the prosecution authority of Beijing's Haidian district.
"Even though authorities make efforts in the initial period to refute rumors, the public still prefers to trust rumors," Luo said on Tuesday in an online interview with jcrb.com, the website of the Beijing-based Procuratorial Daily.
"The government needs to have plans that deal with cases of public image crisis. Many officials and authorities are unaware of how to deal with such crises, and it is an area we need to learn about and improve in," he said.
Busiest line in Beijing: Subway line 10 has reached a daily transportation of 1 million passengers on average