| A receptionist works behind the front desk at Baidu.com, a Chinese language search engine, at the company's office in Beijing |
China warned Google and other popular Web portals that they must do more to block pornographic material from reaching Chinese users, the latest in a series of government crackdowns targeting Internet content.
The warning Monday focused on pornography but is part of a larger Chinese effort to control freedom of expression and root out material it considers destabilizing, such as sites that criticize the Communist Party, promote democratic reform or advocate Taiwan independence.
Pornography is banned in China but remains widely available on and off the Internet. Popular Chinese Web portals frequently show sexually explicit pictures and provide links to pornographic Web sites.
The announcement said Google and Baidu, China's two most heavily used search engines, had failed to take "efficient" measures after receiving notices from the country's Internet watchdog that they were providing links to pornographic material.
Google asserted that it abides by Chinese law and does not generate pornographic content.
The statement also criticized popular Web portals Sina and Sohu, as well as a number of video sharing sites and popular online bulletin boards such as Tianya, that it said contain problematic photos, blogs and postings.
Beijing loosened some media and Internet controls during the 2008 Summer Olympics - gestures that were meant to show the international community that the games had brought greater freedom to the Chinese people, but blocked The New York Times' Web site on Dec. 19.
It was unblocked a couple days later and remained open Monday. The Chinese government remains wary of losing its control over
the Internet, which could be used for organized opposition to the rule of the Communist Party. Last month over 300 lawyers, writers, scholars and artists signed a petition online called "Charter 08", calling for a new constitution guaranteeing human rights.
It was unclear what the government classifies as pornographic but it said seven government agencies will work together on the campaign to "purify the Internet's cultural environment and protect the healthy development of minors," the notice said.
The statement, which was posted to a news and information Web site managed by the State Council, said violators will be severely punished, but did not give details. The official Xinhua News Agency said the national campaign would last for one month.
A Google spokeswoman in China, Cui Jin, defended the site's operations, saying it is a search engine and does not generate any pornographic content. The company obeys Chinese law, she said.
Baidu did not immediately return an e-mail seeking comment, and phones at Sina and Sohu rang unanswered.
China has the world's largest population of Internet users with more than 250 million, and China's attitude to love and sex has
changed markedly since it was denounced as a bourgeois decadence under Mao Zedong, a byproduct of rising prosperity and looser government restrictions on private life.
By Cara Anna(AP)
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