AfterDawn: News

China arrests over 5000 in porn crackdown

China has arrested over almost 5400 people in 2009 in its latest Internet pornography crackdown, calling the new tougher policy a key piece of China's "state security."

In the last month, the Chinese government began offering up to 10,000 yuan (about $1500 USD) to anyone who reported sites featuring porn, and 9000 sites were taken down alongside the arrest of 5394 citizens.



For 2010, China says it will "strengthen punishment for Internet operators that violate the laws and regulations...severely punish operations that have serious problems with harmful information".

"Purifying the Internet environment and cracking down on Internet crimes is related to long-term state security," added the ministry, via the AFP.

While the number arrested may seem large, it is important to note that China has 338 million Internet users, and thousands of porn sites and operators remain active today.

Porn, certain Google searches, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are all blocked in the nation.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 3 Jan 2010 18:22

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• 26 comments

• ZippyDSM

  When porn,music,video or books become "state security" the "state" needs to be nuked into dust.

  3.1.2010 19:36 #1

• llongtheD

  "Purifying the internet environment?" Now that's a laugh, as I'm sure its really not censorship. Since they have so much money to throw around purifying the internet, maybe they could spend a few bucks say for example on, coal mine safety?

  3.1.2010 19:42 #2

• Tristan_2

  uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh how is porn "Harmful Information" Geez this is really whack.

  3.1.2010 21:53 #3

• SProdigy

  How do you detain 5400 people? Did they spend millions on prison infrastructure?

  3.1.2010 22:13 #4

• cyprusrom

  Originally posted by ZippyDSM: When porn,music,video or books become "state security" the "state" needs to be nuked into dust.Sounds like the beginning of a "Fahrenheit 451","Nineteen Eighty-Four", or "Equilibrium (2002)".

  3.1.2010 22:30 #5

• llongtheD

  Quote:Originally posted by ZippyDSM: When porn,music,video or books become "state security" the "state" needs to be nuked into dust.Sounds like the beginning of a "Fahrenheit 451","Nineteen Eighty-Four", or "Equilibrium (2002)".When "state security" becomes more important than the welfare of its people, it should be the beginning.

  4.1.2010 03:08 #6

• DXR88

  the Chinese People don't care or are to scared to care.
  
  The Land of the Free(only if you can afford it)Does the same thing every day A bill slide under the table to Take away Your rights.
  
  Whats the diffrence between the USoA and China, the way were raised.
  
  in the US your raised to believe you can do anything and be anyone(you can but only if you got all Aces in the gamble we call freedom)
  
  in china every thing is already decided for you, by the time your born till the time you die. there is no gamble in China no illusions of grandeur or freedom.

  4.1.2010 03:08 #7

• kfir1

  chinese government are a bunch of "dumbasses". It's just another excuse to supress FREEDOM of SPEECH. Do you guys notice that not only porn they are blocking but other FREE SPEECH sites too.
  
  DUMB chinese.

  4.1.2010 09:34 #8

• creaky

  Originally posted by kfir1: t's just another excuse to supress FREEDOM of SPEECH. Do you guys notice that not only porn they are blocking but other FREE SPEECH sites too. Yep, porn is just a convenient excuse to crack down on free speech, the US and UK (and others) are very keen on such ideas too, we have other news articles on this here somewhere
  

  
  
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  4.1.2010 09:38 #9

• Joshewah

  The worst part about this mess (other than suppression of free speech) is that there are far more men in China than women. Some guys are going to live lonely lives with no spank material.

  4.1.2010 11:27 #10

• cyprusrom

  Originally posted by Joshewah: The worst part about this mess (other than suppression of free speech) is that there are far more men in China than women. Some guys are going to live lonely lives with no spank material.Haha!!Oh, some perspective on the issue:)
  If you look at it that way,then the chickens might start to suffer...

  4.1.2010 12:38 #11

• jeff_2

  Why would anyone care that there is porn on the interent and even at that why would a governemt care?

  4.1.2010 15:25 #12

• GryphB

  I feel purified already............
  
  *Snickers!*

  4.1.2010 18:27 #13

• kiwi1

  It's a worry that a nations people are being treated this way and there's no one powerful enough to step in since China pretty much owns the US now.
  
  A few more things they might want to look into purifying.
  
  Their air quality, not just for china but for the entire planet.
  Their appalling human rights record.
  Their work and safety standards.
  The quality control on everything they produce.

  4.1.2010 18:33 #14

• chrialex

  The porn industry has been a boon for China, why would they want to stop it? It is the reason we had VHS instead of Beta, Blu-Ray instead of HD-DVD, and not to mention all the money that pours into the country with the various porn sites/rip-offs sold online/etc. True, they don't 'sanction' it, but come on, that's probably millions of USD a year in local economies. They are just mad that they are not getting anything from it and that the average citizen there has the freedom to get excited without permission. Unless they think that watching porn will make you want to have sex, which could lead, eventually, to an increase in population. If they can articulate that in a good way, they might get some sympathy, as everyone knows they have a problem with an increasing population, but saying it is just because of "state security" and "harmful information" is just funny.

  7.1.2010 08:33 #15

• hermes_vb

  And with less porn sites, men in China will be forced to have real relationships that will in the end cause the country's population to grow even more.

  8.1.2010 00:45 #16

• whatname

  Ironic. Guess what nationality the gangs that sell pirate and porn DVD's are around here? Yep, Chinese, all of them. No wonder they get the hell out of their own country as soon as they can.
  
  All I can hope is that eventually their security systems will implode under the weight of information they collect. How many milions of people will be required to monitor the billions who surf the web?

  8.1.2010 04:30 #17

• inhisgrip

  Originally posted by ZippyDSM: When porn,music,video or books become "state security" the "state" needs to be nuked into dust.

  10.1.2010 09:41 #18

• inhisgrip

  it is a sad day when a backward, communistic, "Godless" ,oh and
  uninlightened we cant forget that, can see the detrament porn has to a
  society and we cant...oh and we're not talking about some naked men
  or women... no we're talking about underage 12,13,14 year olds ,sex with
  animals and the sex slave trade which is the underbelly of this beast
  we call porn I guess their just not satisfied with pictures of Chairman Mao any more.

  10.1.2010 09:58 #19

• llongtheD

  Originally posted by inhisgrip: it is a sad day when a backward, communistic, "Godless" ,oh and
  uninlightened we cant forget that, can see the detrament porn has to a
  society and we cant...oh and we're not talking about some naked men
  or women... no we're talking about underage 12,13,14 year olds ,sex with
  animals and the sex slave trade which is the underbelly of this beast
  we call porn I guess their just not satisfied with pictures of Chairman Mao any more.What? Maybe that's what you call porn, but I think child porn, and beastiality are illegal pretty much everywhere.
  

  If your fish seems sick, put it back in the water.

  15.1.2010 20:03 #20

• prabax

  These issues are going to destroy our entire humanities.
  

  link wheels

  18.1.2010 05:17 #21

• inhisgrip

  Originally posted by llongtheD: Originally posted by inhisgrip: it is a sad day when a backward, communistic, "Godless" ,oh and
  uninlightened we cant forget that, can see the detrament porn has to a
  society and we cant...oh and we're not talking about some naked men
  or women... no we're talking about underage 12,13,14 year olds ,sex with
  animals and the sex slave trade which is the underbelly of this beast
  we call porn I guess their just not satisfied with pictures of Chairman Mao any more.What? Maybe that's what you call porn, but I think child porn, and beastiality are illegal pretty much everywhere.

  9.2.2010 14:55 #22

• inhisgrip

  are you that naive to think that just like any addiction we are prone to
  the same medium forever, not, the same kid that jacks off to a playboy
  centerfold at 16 develops and according to ones personal tastes, begins
  delving into any one of those perverted topics we just named, child porn
  is illegal, yet because of this wonderful invention (the internet) and technology we are able to fulfill our sick and perverted appitites in a
  stand off and unidentified way...now I am not ignorant enough to say "hey lets outlaw the internet, porno, wifi tech, no you cant legislate morality, I just know that when you give freedom to any vice you open the door to a host of unforseen and perverted action by those who might not be as restrained as you. so in closing yeah china is sort of backward but maybe theyve seen our little experament and dont think looking at naked pictures is worth all the mess that goes with it...

  9.2.2010 15:19 #23

• inhisgrip

  Originally posted by kiwi1: It's a worry that a nations people are being treated this way and there's no one powerful enough to step in since China pretty much owns the US now.
  
  A few more things they might want to look into purifying.
  
  Their air quality, not just for china but for the entire planet.
  Their appalling human rights record.
  Their work and safety standards.
  The quality control on everything they produce.

  10.2.2010 07:30 #24

• inhisgrip

  give them time...theyve only been a country for a little over 50 years
  its taken us 4x that long to hide our corruption and waste, whats funny
  and no one mentions is we're second only to china yet we make up only a
  fraction of their total population, woops

  10.2.2010 07:36 #25

• inhisgrip

  Originally posted by ZippyDSM: When porn,music,video or books become "state security" the "state" needs to be nuked into dust.

  10.2.2010 10:43 #26