CHINA - In 2007,
it has been estimated that China
shut down 44,000 pornographic websites, arrested 868 people and penalized
nearly 2,000 people involved in Internet porn activities last year in a
campaign against internet pornography, state media reported Wednesday.
The campaign of the country with the most heavily policed Internet of the world, will also soon focus on websites that include audio and video or which send information to mobile telephones, the agency said. The government has tens of thousands of security officers monitoring the web and it regularly jails activists who have posted critical messages online.
The move is part of a campaign that began last year by authorities when President Hu Jintao warned the Internet could harm social stability and called for a "healthy online culture". The "clean up campaign" will continue on until the end of the Bejing Olympics.
Under the policy more than 500 criminal cases were investigated and over 440,000 "pornographic messages" deleted and another 1,911 people received unspecified penalties for "pornography activities," Xinhua news agency said.
China's broadcasting watchdog banned all "sexually suggestive" advertising last year and stated that it corrupted society.
Movies have also been targeted and directors are adhering to rules. Ang Lee removed sex scenes from his film Lust, Caution so that it could be shown in China.
