By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
BEIJING, China – Chinese government has shut down 91 websites for pornographic and other “vulgar” content, as well as a political blog portal, according to the state media. The latest crackdown on Internet content targeted many big names, including Google, Microsoft’s MSN and homegrown market-leading rival Baidu, for undermining public morality. It is the first time that officials have targeted such major companies.
Bullog.cn, a Chinese blog portal with many famous bloggers, including some signatories of the pro-democracy “08 Charter,” has been shut down. The “08 Charter” is an online petition signed by 303 Chinese citizens, calls for sweeping political change in China. Luo Yonghao, the founder of Bullog.cn, confirmed that the website had been closed because of “amount of political harmful information,” citing a notice from government. The Human Rights Defenders network has said that more than 100 of the 300 original signatories had been questioned, detained or harassed by police.
The Chinese government publicly announced its anti-porn campaign a couple weeks ago. Some observers say that the move signals the government’s determination to control the net amid a string of politically sensitive anniversaries. “While the publicly stated purpose of cracking down in the past week has been porn and internet smut, we have also seen the shutdown of Bullog and a number of websites,” said Rebecca MacKinnon, assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong and an expert on China and the internet.
“From talking to people who work in web companies here it’s pretty clear they feel under increased pressure to control political content as much as smut … I’m being told that all of those companies are beefing up their staff who are employed to police content and the software and other mechanisms to flag content which gets them in trouble.” Xiao Qiang, director of the China Internet Project at the University of California at Berkeley said. He also suggested Bullog’s closure reflected the Chinese government’s deep concerns about the growing influence of the internet.
For more information, please see:
AP – Edgy China blog site shut amid Internet porn sweep – 12 January 2009
Forbes – Beijing’s Own ‘Yellow Peril’ Is Online – 12 January 2009
Guardian – China closes 90 websites as internet crackdown intensifies – 12 January 2009
Reuters – China closes 91 websites in crackdown – 12 January 2009
