KUNMING: What happens in the virtual world has a strong bearing in the real world, so Internet media operators as well as surfers should be aware of the consequences and be more responsible.

Cai Mingzhao, vice minister of the State Council Information Office, answers questions during a TV interview on the sideline of the 6th Forum on Internet Media of China in Kunming, Yunnan Province November 30, 2006. [chinadaily.com.cn]

That was the message delivered by officials and experts attending the 2006 Forum on Internet Media of China, which opened Thursday in the capital of Yunnan Province.

The two-day forum is sponsored by www.chinadaily.com.cn, the largest English-language news portal in China, whose page views average 6.5 million a day.

"The Internet media should play a bigger role in promoting social harmony," said Vice-Minister of the State Council Information Office Cai Mingzhao.

He listed some problems associated with the Net in the country, including online fraud and gambling, and the spread of obscene and false information which "poisons the environment for the Web's development and harms the credibility of Internet media."

Citing figures from the Illegal and Malicious Information Reporting Centre, which was set up by the Internet Society of China in 2004, Cai said residents had about 350,000 complaints, of which nearly two-thirds were about obscenity and pornography.

"Internet media operators should run their websites according to the law," Cai said. "They should also conscientiously shoulder their social responsibility by providing healthy and lawful information and building credibility."

Min Dahong, a senior Internet researcher who has followed the Web's expansion in China since the country was first wired in 1994, said offensive online behaviour has drawn widespread attention. They include explicit violent acts such as torturing a cat to death and invading privacy.

"This has greatly upset people," Min said. "For the sake of healthy development of the Internet, users need to strike a balance between freedom and obligations."

Vice-Minister of Information Industry Xi Guohua said at the forum that just as "society needs management and regulation, so do the Internet and information networks."

"The purpose of management and regulation is for promoting the Web's further growth, rather than impeding it."

The number of netizens in China is reported to have reached 123 million at the end of June, and the country will soon surpass the United States to become the world's largest Internet user.

After securing nearly 100 per cent telephone penetration in most villages, the country is striving to ensure that every township has access to the Internet in the next five years, Xi said.

China Daily Editor-in-Chief Zhu Ling told the opening ceremony that since cyberspace is very open and free, it is more challenging to build harmony online than offline.

He urged Internet media to take their social responsibility seriously and contribute to the healthy development of society.

Nearly 300 participants from at least 100 news websites, Web portals and service providers at the annual forum also discussed how traditional media can co-exist with new media; and how innovation in technology and service can facilitate further expansion of the Internet.