China to continue crackdown on Internet porn during holiday

New Delhi, January 23 (ANI): Internet watchdogs in China have said that they will continue cracking down on pornography and "lewd" content throughout the weeklong Spring Festival holiday, which begins on Monday.

Liu Zhengrong, deputy director of the network office of the State Council's Information Office, said the it was necessary to protect the country's youth, according to an online report published in chinaview.cn.

"The campaign has a single and clear goal, that is to clean up the Internet and save the Internet environment for children," Xinhua news agency quoted Liu as saying.

"Rampant pornography and lewd content on the Internet do great damage to juveniles, and we are acting in response to the public complaints," Liu said at a press conference.

He added: "A few days ago, a friend asked me if it was safe to let his 12-year-old son surf the Internet, and I felt ashamed. I told him we wouldn't stop working during the holiday to reassure all anxious parents."

Public distribution of pornography is illegal in China, and the government's crackdown ahead of the traditional festival holiday is aimed at shielding young people from online porn.

Violence, libel, private and other information that violates standards of public decency are being considered to be "lewd" content.

More than 18,000 reports of online porn and lewd content are said to have been received by the China Internet Illegal Information Reporting Center ever since the campaign was launched.

"Reported pornographic sites will be shut down and portals with columns containing porn or lewd content will be blacklisted and asked to wipe them out," said Xi Wei, the centre's vice-director.

The centre is scheduled to unveil another blacklist at the end of the month. (ANI)