China shuts down 91 porn sites

2009-01-12 14:07

Shanghai - China shut down 50 additional websites over the weekend as authorities crack down on online porn, ordering Internet giants such as Google to cut links with such material, state-run media said on Sunday.

A total of 91 sites have been shut down or blocked since Thursday as part of a month-long campaign that the government says is aimed at stamping out online pornography, the Xinhua news agency said.

Distributing pornography is illegal in China and authorities urged law-breakers to turn themselves into police, warning that tougher measures would come in the following days, the report said.

The report gave few details on which sites were shut down.

China's Ministry of Public Security and six other government agencies launched the drive against sites that post or link to content that "harms public morality" and corrupts the nation's youth, Xinhua said.

'Law-abiding citizen'

They have included Google, MSN and Baidu, the most popular Chinese search engine.

Companies that ignore government warnings to remove obscene content or links to such material have been threatened with closure.

Google, Baidu and other internet portals have since issued apologies and moved against online porn.

Google said on Wednesday it had deleted all links to vulgar material from its search indexes and would go all-out to prevent such material re-appearing.

"Google is willing to be a law-abiding citizen in China," it said in a statement.

China has launched internet crackdowns on pornography, con artists and political activists in the past but officials have warned the latest campaign would include tougher measures, without giving specifics.

China has the world's largest online population at more that 250 million, according to official figures, and it is growing rapidly as computer use rises along with income levels.

China's communist rulers generally exercise strict control over the internet, blocking sites linked to many politically sensitive subjects.

- AFP