China begins month-long crackdown on web porn

Source: Xinhua | 01-06-2009 09:09

BEIJING, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday unveiled a blacklist of 19 websites that provide and spread pornographic or obscene contents, including searching engines Google, Baidu and major portals such as Sina, Sohu, Netease.

This marks a month-long nationwide campaign launched by the Information Office of the State Council, Ministry of Public Security and other four central government departments to clean up the online environment.

Those websites were accused of either providing links to pornographic websites or containing porn pictures and failed to take them down after being notified by China Internet Illegal Information Reporting Center(CIIRC).

Online porn and obscene contents are against China's social morals and in violation of the Chinese law, which bring negative influences on the public, especially the young, Cai Mingzhao, deputy director of the State Council Information Office, told a national teleconference Monday on the government move.

"The government will continue to expose, punish or even shut down those infamous websites that refuse to correct their wrongdoing," the meeting was told. "Immediate action is needed to purify the internet environment."