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07-28-2009 11:38 AM |
China bans online gangster games
China has banned websites featuring or publicizing online games that glorify gangs, obscenity or gambling and said it would severely punish any site that "undermine morality and Chinese traditional culture."
"These games encourage people to deceive, loot and kill, and glorify gangsters' lives. It has a bad influence on youngsters," a report from the Culture Ministry said, carried on the Xinhua news agency.
The move is the latest in an ongoing campaign against what the Chinese Communist Party used to call "spiritual pollution."
The censorship campaign is aimed at ensuring social stability ahead of the 60th anniversary of communist rule on Oct. 1.
These games violated regulations on Internet administration, because they "advocate obscenity, gambling, or violence," the ministry said, and are "against public morality and the nation's fine cultural traditions."
The ruling is particularly focused on online games with mafia themes, where players can become "Godfather-like" figures.
The ministry ordered its law enforcement bodies to step up oversight and harshly punish those sites that continued to run such games.
"These games encourage people to deceive, loot and kill, and glorify gangster life. They are a bad influence on youngsters," the ministry said.
Internet operators should immediately stop running, promoting or offering links to the illegal games, it said.
China has more than 300 million Internet users, the world's biggest population of webizens, and also has the world's most comprehensive system of web monitoring and censorship.
The campaign is aimed at pornography, online gambling and other sites deemed harmful to society, but it is also used to block politically sensitive sites and has meant that Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are all blocked in China.
The government recently backed down on a plan to require that Green Dam filter software be pre-installed on all new computers to block supposedly pornographic or other vulgar content.
However, some major suppliers are voluntarily including the software after a request from the Chinese government.
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