China Closes 91 Sites In Morality Crackdown

China has shut down 91 Web sites - including a political blog - for offering pornographic and vulgar content.

Chinese state media has announced that it has shut down a total of 91 Web sites since last Thursday for offering pornography and other vulgar content. The closed sites apparently include the well-known political blog Bullog.cn, which played host to a number of prominent Chinese bloggers, including signatories of the pro-democracy “08 Charter” calling for open elections and freedom of expression in China.

The Chinese crackdown included sites hosted by American technology giants like Google and Microsoft’s MSN China service, as well as China’s own Internet leader Baidu.

Chinese media says the shutdowns are the latest more in a month-long campaign to “purify the Internet,” and says authorities will be vigorously shutting down sites that illegally distribute pornography. The Chinese government urges law-breakers to voluntarily turn themselves in to their local public security departments.

China is well-known for operating the world’s largest content censorship and Internet policing regime on the planet; however, the nation is also home to one of the largest Internet-using markets on the planet, making it impossible for global technology companies to ignore or bypass entirely.