What's the buzz

A recent online report that said a Chinese woman threw herself in front of a foreigner's motorbike with the intention of extorting money from him triggered netizens' fury against the woman. Later, it was learned that the foreigner had indeed knocked down the woman, but a photographer who happened to be passing by took photographs of the foreigner and the woman arguing and uploaded them on the Internet with a made-up description of the incident despite not being a witness to the accident. Since online information plays a very important role in our lives, we need to make sure we know the truth before we start believing in everything that is posted online. The following are the reactions of China Daily's mobile news readers to the incident:

We need to objectively judge online reports. Some online reports on burning issues are indeed based on facts but others, to attract public attention through more "clicks", tend to ignore the truth. While uploading news on the Internet, the posters (and websites) may not necessarily be biased but could unwittingly, to serve their own interests, report an incident the way they perceive it. Therefore, people should exercise discretion before passing a judgment on an incident that they read or watch on a website or blog.

PIAOMIAO, Wuhan, Hubei province