China wages war on pornographic sites. And it works well. Now the war is being extended. No pornographic phone calls. And other bans which may surprise you. One has to be a bit careful here not to stir up a hornet’s nest but if you buy a secondhand book with China in the title you cannot have it delivered in China. There has to be a third party. None of this affects 99.9999 percent of the population but that does not mean it is not there.

Seven governmental agencies recently met to discuss the progress of the Chinese attempt to crack down on Internet filth. And their definitions of filth would not be yous.

Reports were positive: 1,250 sites closed down. Lots more to go. Time to move on to other media but keep the Internet a clean, green working machine.

China’s Ministry of Public Security claims to have shut down some 1,250 inappropriate Web sites. (It does not count those who take advice and clean up their act.)Additionally, the MPS has arrested 41 people (and many more to come) for disseminating obscene and vulgar content.

The agency claims there has been a significant decrease in vulgar content online, and the online environment has been significantly improved.

Now the seven agencies are cracking down on pornographic content on mobile phones. No precise description was given as to what this means but it looks as though it is going to be pretty stringent.

The Chinese government has long condemned Internet pornography for ‘perverting China’s young minds,’ which led to this initiative to ‘purify the Internet.’

No one was spared. Big and little. Baidu and Google — and 33 other search providers — were told to pull their socks up (the wrong phrase but let it pass) and start seriously blocking links to porn in an ‘efficient’ manner.

None of this is going to be easy. Indeed, there are some who think it impossible.

Yet, the campaign has  deleted more than 3.2 million items of online information alleged to contain porn and vulgar content in the month of January alone. And it is not yet over.

So what is it all about, Alfie?

Not just nookie, although the Chinese government is totally opposed to any game involving two players which is not ping pong.

This is going to be a dodgy political year in China.

A lot of people out of work. Many of them university students where rioting can become a major part of the scene.

A lot of people with degrees not being able to get work.

The anniversary of the Tienanmen Square disaster.

The Chinese government has serous worries about citizen discontent.

The last time the bad word was passed by fax.

Now the plague carrier will be the Internet and mobile phones and China wants them under control.

Is such restriction possible? One would guess not but this is China. And, given the will and the need, the Chinese, and especially the Chinese government, can do anything.

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Entry was posted on Wednesday, February 18th, 2009 at 4:36 am under Uncategorized.

Read more entries by Gareth Powell.
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