China's Ministry of Public Security today announced a six month crackdown on net pornography, AP reports.

The campaign will target "cyber strip shows and sexually explicit images, stories and audio and video clips" according to state news agency Xinhua.

Zhang Xinfeng, a deputy public security minister, declared: "The boom of pornographic content on the internet has contaminated cyberspace and perverted China's young minds. The inflow of pornographic materials from abroad and lax domestic control are to blame for the existing problems in China's cyberspace."

Zhang added that "illegal online lotteries and contraband trade, fraud and content that spreads rumours and is of a slanderous nature" would also be tackled.

To show that the Chinese authorities mean business, Xinhua also announced that two website operators had attracted four year prison sentences, with a third jailed for one year for "distributing pornographic movies and other materials". Last year, 28-year-old Chen Hui was jailed for life for his part in establishing "Pornographic Summer" and three other unnamed sites. ®

Related stories

• China deploys virtual coppers (29 August 2007)
• China fails to ban nude web chats (18 April 2007)
• China bans mucky text messages (29 March 2007)
• China jails writer for six years (20 March 2007)
• China steps up assault on net cafes (6 March 2007)
• China to purify cyber gamblers, build harmonious society (28 February 2007)
• China's top Red vows to 'purify' net (24 January 2007)