52 websites probed for publication of porn, violence_美文

52 websites probed for publication of porn, violence

An online forum on Horrifying Grimms' Fairy Tales at Baidu Tieba, which has run posts with complete stories, was still accessible at around 4 pm on Thursday.

But the forum was quickly closed and all the posts were deleted one hour later.

The investigation into the 52 websites followed an investigation in April into Sina Internet Information Service Co, one of China's Internet giants, which was suspended from engaging in Internet publication and audio and video dissemination for placing pornographic content online.

The authority later revoked the two licenses of Sina.com, including those for Internet publication and network distribution of audiovisual programs, and fined the company up to 5 million yuan ($800,000) for publishing as many as 20 obscene articles in its reading channel and posting four Internet audiovisual programs that spread obscene information.

Ding Junjie, a media professor at the Communication University of China, said online literature is more difficult to censor due to the large number of sources and the difficulty of obtaining evidence.

"The online platforms may never have meant to host such content. But it is their duty to supervise it," he said.

Bu Wei, director of the Research Center for Media and Children with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said online service providers have obligations to protect their audiences, especially children, from unhealthy contents online, as is stated by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, an international human rights treaty.