Micro-blogger sentenced to four years in prison

Yang Xiuyu, a former popular Chinese micro-blogger, was sentenced to four years in prison and fined 150,000 yuan ($24,500) on Tuesday by Beijing Chaoyang District People's Court.

Yang, 41, founder of Erma Co and better known by his online name, "Lier Chaisi", received 531,200 yuan from May 2012 to September 2013 by helping clients delete unfavorable posts and publishing rumors on the Internet, the court said.

Jia Liying, a judge in the court, said she hoped the sentence ruling will serve as a warning against spreading rumors online and help clean up cyberspace.