New media could at best be a double-edged sword in online anti-graft campaigns, while at worst, some websites like Facebook could be subversive forces, researchers from a top state-sponsored think tank said. New media forms such as Facebook could be used as a force to subvert society if they are manipulated by people who have ulterior motives, Professor Cui Baoguo , vice-dean of Tsinghua University's School of Journalism and Communication, said yesterday at a press conference for the Bluebook of New Media, compiled by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). 'Media could transform a society ... in an underdeveloped country. Media [are] revolutionary and could dismantle a society. [They have] influence in a relatively conservative society,' Cui said. 'I believe that in the development process of newly emerged things, they will gradually merge with the state system.' He added that though traditional media could shape society's attitudes, the fact that they operated under government censorship restricted any real power to be subversive. New media, on the other hand, have what Cui called 'ambiguous boundaries', so conflicts are to be expected. The mainland had 417 million internet users by the end of May, or 31.2 per cent of the population, according to the China Internet Network Information Centre. Internet users are increasingly involved in discussing political and civic issues. Guangdong Communist Party secretary Wang Yang had a discussion on Friday with local internet users on cultural issues. More people are using new internet tools such as microblogging and internet telephone services to turn local corruption cases and courtroom controversies into nationwide topics, a study released this week by the State People's Procuratorate has found. 'Anti-graft campaigns by internet users are a strong force that cannot be neglected,' said Professor Yin Yungong, head of CASS' Institute of Journalism and Communication and editor-in-chief of the Bluebook of New Media. Yin added it was also a double-edged sword because of negative elements such as libel and defamation. 'The internet is like a nuclear bomb. Human beings should rein in its negative effect,' he said. Four new services - Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr - are all blocked on the mainland.