Since the controversial Iranian presidential election last month, social-networking website Twitter has become a powerful source for outsiders attempting to find out what really happened.
In the case of the Xinjiang riot, which broke out in Urumqi on Sunday, overseas media also used pictures posted by netizens on Twitter.
However, not all the information was correct. On Monday, Reuters used a picture posted on Twitter that day purportedly taken during the Urumqi riots.
The picture, showing lines of paramilitary officers in a standoff with protesters, was actually taken during a riot in Shishou , Hubei , late last month.
It was published by the Southern Metropolis Weekly on June 26 with a caption saying it was taken in Shishou on June 21.
The picture was carried by the website of British newspaper The Daily Telegraph on Monday and caused a buzz among Chinese netizens. It was removed yesterday.