Ron Schenone

China Arrests 5,394 For Internet Porn Or Is It Net Censorship?

Posted by on Jan 1, 2010 | 2 Comments

China claims it is cracking down on Internet Porn and has arrested 5,394 criminals during the previous year. The Chinese governments states that the web sites they have closed down were havens for perverts and that those responsible would be prosecuted. But some are thinking that China is using the excuse of porn to close down web sites with anti government sentiment.

According to a Reuters article it states that:

With an estimated 360 million Internet users, China has a bigger online population than any other country. But the ruling Communist Party worries the Internet could become a dangerous conduit for threatening images and ideas.

The ministry did not say how many of the 5,394 suspects arrested were later charged, released or prosecuted.

The anti-pornography drive has also netted many sites with politically sensitive or even simply user-generated content, in what some see as an effort by the government to reassert control over new media.

China has banned a number of popular websites and Internet services, including Google’s Youtube, Twitter, Flickr and Facebook, as well as Chinese content sharing sites.

So there you have it. China doesn’t like social networking sites in which free ideas and thoughts can be shared. The Chinese government considers such sites as a potential haven for anti government sentiments that must be squished.

Comments welcome.

Source

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/theoracle/ the oracle

    Not sure if we read the same story, but what I got was the fact that much of this “porn” was the sort of stuff we have on television here, such as pictures of Victoria’s Secret models in skimpy underwear.

    Perhaps not what their government wants the developing minds to be focussed on, but definitely not porn (not even by the Ed Meese definition!)

  • mhz

    I think the whole internet blocking thing in China and the underground network trying to allow it would make a GREAT movie trilogy.

    It would have the sort of feel like the Matrix movie, with Agents always on your tail, etc., except they would be using Google, Twitter, IM’s and all sort of government blocked protocols to communicate.

    Someone is probably already making this movie. The advertising alone would be a bonanza. But maybe the advertising competition between real life companies would cause friction about what gets used in the movie. Still, the producers would have to ignore that pressure and make it as dramatic as possible.

    Of course some internet “smuggling” is porn, which is sad. Porn is poison, after all. It can get in the mind of a kid and ruin his perception of women irreparably. But I hope they would leave porn smuggling out of the movie, and focus on the dramatic anti-communist stuff!