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Source: ONE News -
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China's internet watchdog ordered Google to stop overseas
websites with "pornographic and vulgar" content from being accessed
through its Chinese-language search engine.
The China Internet Illegal Information Reporting Centre had told
Google to "make immediate changes" and clean up the content
available through its search engine (
www.google.cn), the official Xinhua
news agency reported.
The targetting of Google illustrates the difficulties faced by
foreign internet firms doing business in the world's largest online
market while avoiding charges of censorship.
In an emailed statement, Google said it met with government
officials to discuss the problem of "pornographic content and
material that is harmful to children on the web in China".
"We are undertaking a thorough review of our service and taking all
necessary steps to fix any problems with our results. We believe we
have addressed a large majority of the problem results," the
statement said.
The order came a day after Chinese state television blasted Google
and the centre denounced it for allowing foreign Internet
pornographic information.
The Chinese government recently ordered all new personal computers
to carry Green Dam filtering software designed to block
pornographic internet content from July 1, leading to fears China
was using its campaign to protect children from unhealthy content
as a way of tightening censorship.
Google has been "ordered to comply with China's laws and
regulations and completely filter pornographic content to prevent
pornographic material from entering from overseas", Xinhua
said.
The order coincides with plans by the city of Beijing to recruit
tens of thousands of volunteers to monitor the Internet.
The volunteers would be asked to report to the authorities if they
came across "lewd" content or find Internet users exhibiting
uncivilised behaviour when surfing the Internet, Xinhua said.
Earlier this week, local media reported the city is developing its
own Internet filtering software.
That software, like Green Dam, is billed as a measure against
pornography.
"The aim is to shield the minors from unwanted harm they might be
subjected to on the Internet," an official surnamed Zhou from the
Capital Enhancement Committee Office was quoted as saying.
Some volunteers would be placed in internet cafes to stop minors
from entering and to monitor content, he said.
China already employs an army of Internet censors, who identify
websites to be blocked and monitor chat rooms for any content
deemed inappropriate or subversive.
