Govt duty to update websites

Dong Haifeng, head of the business bureau of Danzhou, a city in South China's Hainan province, was recently given an administrative demerit and warning for not updating the bureau's website in a timely manner. It is reportedly the first case of an official being held accountable for failing to keep a government website operational and up to date.

Dong's punishment is by no means a case of the authorities making a fuss over a "trivial affair". The official websites of governments serve as an important channel for communication between the government and the public, and for ordinary people they offer a way to learn more about government affairs and express their views.

For government departments, running their official websites well is therefore an important duty, as it is part of government transparency.