China employs two mln people to report on online public opinion: Report

China has employed more than two million people in its government to monitor web activity, providing a rare glimpse into how the state tries to control the Internet.

According to the BBC, China's hundreds of millions of web users increasingly use microblogs to criticise the state or vent anger.

Recent research suggested Chinese censors actively target social media, the report said.

China's Internet is one of the most controlled and censored in the world and websites deemed to be subversive are blocked, the report added.

Politically sensitive postings are routinely deleted and even the name of the former Prime Minister Wen Jiabao was censored when rumours were circulating on the Internet that his family had amassed a fortune while he was in power, the report further said.

The most popular microblogging site Sina Weibo, launched in 2010, now has more than 500 million registered users with 100 million messages posted daily, according to the report.

Topics cover a wide range, from personal hobbies, health to celebrity gossip and food safety but they also include politically sensitive issues like official corruption, the report mentioned.