With only a click of the mouse, rumours（谣言）can be forwarded between microblogs（微博）very quickly. As an example, recently, sensitive netizens discovered that some photos displayed on microblogs describing Beijing’s June rainstorm had actually been fabricated. Sina.com is one of the major Internet portals in China with hundreds and thousands of users, and a majority of celebrities and famous citizens have their microblog accounts on this portal. As recently as six months ago, the website decided to establish a specialized team to prove rumours and provide accurate information for its users. Tan Chao is in charge of the team. “ Before I took the job, I usually couldn’t identify what information was real and what was fake. But during the process of identification, we discovered that a lot of information was false, including fake photos, fake news stories and rumours that had been spread through microblogs.” It’s not just website portals which are taking on fact-checking responsibilities, but also a number of civic-minded netizens, who recently set up a Rumour Identification Federation on Sina.com’s microblog system to help netizens identify fake information online. Dian Zizheng is the team leader of the federation. He says they’ve publicized more than 150 pieces which contradict rumours, which attracted more than 10 thousand visitors within two months. “We live in an age of new media, so we can’t use the old methods to prove rumours. We can’t wait for the media to prove the facts with related administrative（行政） departments and then release a formal announcement. We can’t allow rumours to run wild and then deal with it, we need to fight rumours while they’re spreading. I think that this is the best way to deal with rumours nowadays.” Some experts say this displays the advantages of the internet compared to other traditional media. The open platform allows information to be examined and clarified by netizens. But experts like Ding Wengguo,President of the Journalism and Communication College at the China University of Political Science and Law says this self-correction function of the Internet is still quite limited. “It’s still quite different to tell which information is true in such an open environment by just reading a number of different opinions on the same issue. This is something which we need to pay attention to. If society is flooded with too much false information, and it’s allowed to spread in such a fast manner, then people will be suspicious（怀疑的） of all kinds of information including important information from authorities. It also worsens problems relating to social communications and mutual-understanding, which in turn harms society as a whole.” Experts suggest that the government should react more quickly in the Internet age. Once a rumour begins to spread, administrative departments should make announcements as early as possible to drive away rumours before they lead to bad outcomes. 小题1:Sina.com decided to found a specialized team to __________.
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