China closes porn, content sharing websites

In this Nov. 9, 2012 photo, Communist Party delegate Zheng Yanxiong uses his laptop during a group discussion meeting as part of the 18th Communist Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. During China's last party congress, the cadres in charge of the world's most populous nation didn't know a hashtag from a hyperlink. But five years on, there's a new message from Beijing: The political transition will be microblogged. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)
A Chinese man uses a computer at the press center of the 18th Communist Party Congress in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012. During China's last party congress, the cadres in charge of the world's most populous nation didn't know a hashtag from a hyperlink. But five years on, there's a new message from Beijing: The political transition will be microblogged. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
The microblog of Mao Zedong's grandson Mao Xinyu is displayed on a computer screen at the press center of the 18th Communist Party Congress in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012. During China's last party congress, the cadres in charge of the world's most populous nation didn't know a hashtag from a hyperlink. But five years on, there's a new message from Beijing: The political transition will be microblogged. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
In this Nov. 9, 2012 photo, a Communist Party delegate uses her iPhone with an iPad resting on her legs during a group discussion meeting as part of the 18th Communist Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. During China's last party congress, the cadres in charge of the world's most populous nation didn't know a hashtag from a hyperlink. But five years on, there's a new message from Beijing: The political transition will be microblogged. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)

In this Nov. 9, 2012 photo, Communist Party delegate Zheng Yanxiong uses his laptop during a group discussion meeting as part of the 18th Communist Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. During China's last party congress, the cadres in charge of the world's most populous nation didn't know a hashtag from a hyperlink. But five years on, there's a new message from Beijing: The political transition will be microblogged. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)

In this Nov. 9, 2012 photo, Communist Party delegate Zheng Yanxiong uses his laptop during a group discussion meeting as part of the 18th Communist Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. During China's last party congress, the cadres in charge of the world's most populous nation didn't know a hashtag from a hyperlink. But five years on, there's a new message from Beijing: The political transition will be microblogged. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)
A Chinese man uses a computer at the press center of the 18th Communist Party Congress in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012. During China's last party congress, the cadres in charge of the world's most populous nation didn't know a hashtag from a hyperlink. But five years on, there's a new message from Beijing: The political transition will be microblogged. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
The microblog of Mao Zedong's grandson Mao Xinyu is displayed on a computer screen at the press center of the 18th Communist Party Congress in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2012. During China's last party congress, the cadres in charge of the world's most populous nation didn't know a hashtag from a hyperlink. But five years on, there's a new message from Beijing: The political transition will be microblogged. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
In this Nov. 9, 2012 photo, a Communist Party delegate uses her iPhone with an iPad resting on her legs during a group discussion meeting as part of the 18th Communist Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. During China's last party congress, the cadres in charge of the world's most populous nation didn't know a hashtag from a hyperlink. But five years on, there's a new message from Beijing: The political transition will be microblogged. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)

China closes porn, content sharing websites

Print Page Updated: 12:59:01 PM, Wed 27 February 2013

BEIJING () — China says it has closed scores of websites for offering pornography, video sharing and online gaming.

The official Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday said a new crackdown led to the shuttering of 225 websites and more than 30,000 blogs and Twitter-like microblog accounts found to be offering obscene or improper content. They included sites offering photo and video sharing as well as online gaming, Xinhua said, citing a statement from the State Internet Information Office.

It said the office was working with police and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to investigate those running the sites and how they got online.

China's Communist authorities heavily police the Internet for content deemed obscene or politically subversive. Twitter, Facebook, and other Western social media sites are blocked.

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