How are social media sites changing China? (2024)

The increasing use of social media websites by young people in China has been changing the way news is consumed by the public.

China is the world's biggest social media market, but with access to websites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube blocked in the country, most people can only use domestic social media sites such as Weibo, Renren and YouKu.

For many, these sites are not just their main source of news - they can also be used to organise protests and put out their own versions of events.

BBC Monitoring's Qiang Zhang explains how authorities in Beijing are responding to these changes.