On June 26, Huili county government’s official website suddenly didn’t work, and it was not because of hacking but large visiting.
The technical staff of the website discovered that a PS photo on Huili government in a post from Tianya Forum, a popular online discussion board in China, caused hot discussed between the internet users, and then led to huge visiting.
The photo, in which three local officials appeared to be floating above a newly paved road, was a PS job, and the skill was very poor.
The photo interested a large number of internet users, then three officials in the image appeared in everywhere of the world and “inspected” numerous news scene, in the form of group photos by internet users’ innovation.
The next day, Huili government found out the truth of the PS photo. A government employee took the photos of local officials when they inspect a newly built road. Then he changed the background of the photo to a prettier stretch of asphalt to make it looks more impressive.
The government in Huili apologized for the PS photos to the public in a transparent way. And the government has posted one of the original photos on Sina Weibo. The inspection is true but the road doesn’t look nice like in the PS photo. The post was quickly and largely reproduced.
Fake photo incident occurred in the time that the people questioned the relationship between Guo Meimei and Red. Many netizen said that Red Cross should learn from the local government of Huili.
Source: Southern Metropolis Weekly
Translated and edited by Ma Xin
Ma Xin is an editor of M4.cn and can be reached at tomaxin@163.com.