Authorities in Beijing have issued new rules requiring users of microblog sites to register personal details.

BBC reports that new users of Weibo - Chinese equivalents of Twitter - will now have to submit their real names. Existing users have to register in three months.

Those who refuse to do so will lose the ability to publish microblog entries.

The move comes with Chinese people increasingly using Weibo platforms to criticise government policies or vent anger over particular incidents.

Some Weibo entries are censored - such as ones that relate to the ongoing unrest in southern China's Wukan Village.

But Chinese authorities have accused netizens of spreading rumours on Weibo in the past and have long been discussing putting in place a "real name mechanism".

Liu Ruisheng, a media researcher at the official Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, argues that that improper Weibo usage is a widespread phenomena.

"Real name accreditation for Weibo sites is yet to be made universal; anonymous and irresponsible 'micro communication' is indeed fanning the spread of rumours," Liu Ruisheng told the China Youth Daily.