BEIJING — Chinese authorities are once again clamping down on porn, this time in an effort to create a “benign Internet environment” for Chinese youth during the summer holiday.
The latest campaign is directed by the State Internet Information Office (SIIO) and nine other government agencies in an effort to rid the country of porn and vulgar information.
China’s new crackdown will be in effect from July through August and targets porn sites, online games, online advertisements, web pages, columns, forums, blogs, microblogs and social network websites.
Porn sites will be immediately shut down if found in violation, according to a government statement
Government agencies will also be snooping on electronics shops and Internet cafes suspected of peddling porn-related material and allowing access to adult sites.
A SIIO spokesperson said the office will make "unremitting efforts" to stamp out the spread of porn.
China’s National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications, as well as the public security, industry and information technology, and culture ministries are also part of the anti-porn consortium.
Last May, China hit more than 180,000 online “porn publications” with authorities reportedly shutting down more than 10,000 websites that included these publications. The crackdown was part of a countrywide Internet clean-up campaign that began in March that identified more than 5.6 million illegal publications.
Chinese Internet users are also restricted from using YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, all of which are officially blocked by the government. Citizens are forced to use alternatives like search engine Baidu and micro blogging website Sina Weibo that are reportedly extremely popular.