Beijing advised local police to use microblogs more frequently to “correct” rumors and misunderstandings, Reuters reported. Huang Ming, the vice minister of public security at the Ministry of Public Security, said on Monday that “all levels of public security organs should fully understand the importance of microblogs for public security,” and that local police should create “new platforms to guide public opinion, further pay attention to hot topics people are talking about on the internet, and use correct, authoritative, transparent news to answer people’s concerns in a timely way, clarify fact and clear up misunderstandings.” Beijing officials have sent conflicting messages as to how they view the microblogging services, ranging from warnings to attempts at co-opting the sites. Local and central public security bureaus have already set up more than 4,000 official microblog accounts.