BEIJING, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- The official microblog of China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS) has attracted more than two million followers, sources with the MPS said Tuesday.
The twitter-like microblog is used as a new platform and tool for the police to crack down on criminals, publish authorized information, post teaching video as well as organize online debates on hot issues.
A total of 937 microblogs have been reposted and 415,000 comments have been received, since the ministry released its first microblog at weibo.com and t.qq.com in August 2011.
Social networking sites, such as microblogs and Facebook-like Renren and Kaixin, have become major platforms for social associations and information-sharing in China.
According to the MPS, the official microblog is expected to be used as a channel for interacting with the public, releasing correct and authorized information to dispel misunderstandings and receiving clues in order to better serve the public.
On the platform, netizens have reported clues through the microblog's function of personal messages, helping local police to break cases. Three criminal gangs of selling die pork were cracked down on, with 16 criminal sites cleared and 28 suspects arrested in October 2011, in east Zhejiang province.
By the end of September 2011, about 5,000 police officers nationwide had registered personal microblogs with their real identities verified.
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