China has expanded its anti-smut campaign to cell phone text messages. From Xinhua:
The Chinese government is extending its anti-porn campaign to mobile phone messages after shutting down 1,250 websites, it said on Monday.
“We will incorporate ‘lewd’ messages spread via mobile phones into the crackdown,” said seven government departments including the State Council’s Information Office, Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Culture who jointly launched the campaign at a meeting, aiming to outline future tasks of the move.
Reuters reports more on the impact:
Over 40 people have been detained for disseminating porn on the Internet, and over 3 million “items of online information” have been deleted, the report said.
[Update]
Xinhua also reports that officials will be increasingly vigilant during the Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year:
China’s Internet watchdogs Friday vowed to continue a crackdown on pornography and “lewd” content throughout the weeklong Spring Festival holiday in order to protect the nation’s youth.
“The campaign has a single and clear goal, that is to clean up the Internet and save the Internet environment for children,” said Liu Zhengrong, deputy director of the network office of the State Council’s Information Office.
“Rampant pornography and lewd content on the Internet do great damage to juveniles, and we are acting in response to the public complaints,” Liu said at a press conference.
He said, “A few days ago, a friend asked me if it was safe to let his 12-year-old son surf the Internet, and I felt ashamed. I told him we wouldn’t stop working during the holiday to reassure all anxious parents.”
