Officials in China on Monday launched a crackdown on “vulgar” Web sites, including Google and the country’s leading search engine, Baidu.
In a highly unusual move, they named 19 leading Internet companies they said failed to censor inappropriate content despite warnings, or did not do so swiftly enough.
The Ministry of Public Security and other government bodies announced the campaign at a meeting, state television reported, showing officials seizing equipment from an office.
The China Internet illegal information reporting center, part of the Internet Society of China, said searches on Google and Baidu produced too many links to obscene or pornographic Web sites and that the sites failed to take “efficient” measures to remove the material. Baidu has captured about two-thirds of the world’s largest Internet population — more than 250 million and growing — with Google in second place.
A Google spokeswoman in China, Cui Jin (崔瑾), said the site was a search engine and did not generate any pornographic content.
“If we find any violation, we will take action. So far, I haven’t seen any examples of violations,” she told the Associated Press.
Public relations representatives for Baidu declined to comment, telling Reuters it was unaware of the announcement.
Others on the list included some of China’s most popular portals and sites, such as Sina, Sohu, Netease and Tianya. Several were accused of carrying tawdry photographs or inappropriate comments on discussion forums or blogs.
The Chinese government frequently launches censorship drives against pornography and Web scams as well as political criticism. Pornography is illegal but widely available in China.
It is unusual for officials to name such prominent targets; the last crackdown singled out much smaller sites. They also threatened “stern punishment” for offenders this time, with the state news agency, Xinhua, reporting that those who refuse to change after receiving warnings could face closure.
“Some Web sites have exploited loopholes in laws and regulations,” said Cai Mingzhao (蔡明照), a deputy chief at the State Council Information Office. “They have used all kinds of ways to distribute content that is low-class, crude and even vulgar, gravely damaging mores on the Internet.”
Last month, Shanghai police detained a woman who sought to profit after her involvement in a sex video that became an online sensation. She had set up a blog advertising her availability for appearances and modeling assignments to make use of her new-found notoriety.
The foreign ministry argues that other countries also block Web content deemed illegal. The issue is particularly sensitive in China because of the heavy censorship of political and social discussion.
Wang Junxiu (王俊秀), a blog pioneer and critic of censorship, said the new campaign might have more to do with taming online opinion than stamping out pornography.
“I’d guess that this is in response to all the sensitive dates in 2009. They want to tighten up,” Wang told Reuters. “We’ve had crackdowns on pornography since the start and they’ve never worked, so there must be more than that. It’s a warning.”
This year sees the anniversaries of the 1959 uprising, which sparked the Dalai Lama’s flight from Tibet, the bloody crackdown on the Tiananmen Square democracy protests in 1989 and the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors