Chinese Government to Stamp Out Internet Smut

While politically-themed Internet censorship in China has received most of the attention, news sites and human rights sites are frequently restricted too. Now China's State Council Information Office has intensified its campaign against sexually-explicit Internet material by instructing companies including Google to curb the availability of pornography in China's filtered version of the Web. Decian McCullahn, CNET News' chief political correspondent,  writes "If this were simply political speech, no doubt members of the U.S. Congress would be tempted to convene ritual hearings where China, Google, and various other companies could be ceremoniously denounced in front of the cameras. But because we're talking about porn, a Senate resolution applauding China's censorial policies is probably more likely." [JH]