China wages war against online pornography

by Stevie Smith - Jan 26 2009, 13:00

Having recently reinforced its position as the world’s leader when it comes to monthly Internet traffic figures (179.7 million in December of 2008), China is now stepping up its fight against the spread of online pornography.

Specifically, China’s Internet Affairs Bureau has this week made a show of heaving its online axe through some 1,250 sites targeted for hosting vulgar content, according to an Associated Press report. Accessing pornographic material online is illegal in China.

The clampdown, which also included the arrests of 41 people, is the culmination of a month-long campaign that began on January 05 of 2009. The campaign included a warning to hugely popular regional sites such as Google, Baidu, Sina and Sohu that more effective blocking was necessary to counter pornographic spread.

“We have made apparent achievement but it’s only for this phase,” commented Liu Zhengrong, deputy director of the Internet Affairs Bureau, to gathered members of the media.

“Our biggest challenge is that the Internet is still growing,” added Liu. “We are facing a long-term, complex and huge task.”

While it would appear, on the surface, that the Chinese government is aiming specifically at the online proliferation of pornographic content, AP notes that it is also “part of a larger effort to control freedom of expression and root out material the leadership considers socially destabilizing.”

That content includes anything that directly criticises the Communist Party, promotes and encourages democratic reform or supports the independence of Taiwan.

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