http://www.techinasia.com/sina-tence...t-weibo-punished-spreading-rumors/

The article says:

Quote: Specifically, the report cites unfounded rumors that were spreading like wildfire on Sina Weibo of an attempted coup d’etat happening in Beijing. [Update: All comment viewing and posting is now banned. Scroll down for a screenshot].

So, users of Sina and Tencent can retweet things others have posted, but cannot comment on anything, nor see comments made from March 31st to April 3rd.

Seems like China is really struggling with the Internet. Clearly this type of crackdown can't undo the coup rumors, but it can and does send the message that big brother is watching.

The article talks about the 'real name' regulation, and how easy it is to bypass, and how the internet companies are also walking the tightrope between pissing off the government and pissing off their users. The internet companies do what the government asks, but in a way that leaves them as many options as possible.

The real issue is the lack of a free press, where the coup rumor could be addressed and proven to be false. Chinese citizens don't trust the state-controlled media, so microblogs are a primary source of news for millions.